Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
County commissioners in Washington County, Idaho are both nervous and excited as they plan for the thousands of people expected to view the upcoming solar eclipse. The Weiser area, north of Mann Creek Reservoir is ground zero for the best and longest look at the total eclipse. Commissioner Kirk Chandler says the county has three main concerns: “The main things we are concerned about is the fire danger and the ability of our Sheriff’s office to provide law enforcement and then the ambulance being able to get emergency services to people. It is kind of a hard thing because you have no idea what is going to happen as far as the amount of people coming. We have heard from hundreds of thousands down to 15,000 but if we have 10 or 15,000 people come to our County, we are going to be gridlocked. One of the websites I was looking at said that Idaho is the closest place for 38 million people to come to be in the path of it.” Chandler says in early preparation, the county is already declared a disaster just in case. But will it help? “We declared a disaster in our County due to the eclipse.” And Washington County isn’t the only place with trepidation. I was up in Sun Valley last week at a dairy convention and learned that this tiny hamlet is expecting upwards of 30 to 40,000 people. They have no idea how they are going to handle the traffic. Hotel rooms are totally sold out, obviously, but at a rate that staggers the imagination.
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