Eclipse Has Some Small Towns Declaring Emergency
Eclipse | Photo Credit Tadst The eclipse seems to be on the tip of everyone’s tongues as millions of Americans flock to locations in North Carolina and South Carolina as well as other areas on the East Coast to see the big event.
Some small towns, which have been scientifically proclaimed as the best places to view the event are declaring a state of emergency.
The 2,000 person towns can’t really manage 70,000 visitors all at once.
This is the first total solar eclipse visible in the lower 48 states in the last 38 years, but officials also want to remind viewers not to stare at the eclipse, but to use some sort of protective goggles.
Spectacle Expected To Smash Records
Eclipse Glasses | Photo Credit AP
Daily Mail reports:
“The sight of the moon’s shadow passing directly in front of the sun, blotting out all but the halo-like solar corona, may draw the largest live audience for a celestial event in human history.”
“When those watching via broadcast and online media are factored into the mix, the spectacle will likely smash records. ‘It will certainly be the most observed total eclipse in history,’ astronomer Rick Fienberg of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) said last week.”
“The total eclipse of the sun is considered one of the most spell-binding phenomena in nature but it rarely occurs over a wide swath of land, let alone one of the world’s most heavily populated countries at the height of summer.”
Accommodations In NC Sold Out For Weeks
Charlotte Observer reports:
“Accommodations here, as in most towns in the path of the total eclipse, have been sold out for weeks.”
“So have tickets to an eclipse excursion aboard the scenic railroad that is a popular draw in the town just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”
“But if there is to be a deluge of visitors, it hadn’t hit with full force Sunday.”
