Texas Issues State of Emergency During Solar Eclipse – Should Indiana do the Same?

The 2024 Solar Eclipse Task Force has been meeting and planning for over a year to prepare the Southern Indiana Region for the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024.

Even with the best plans in place, there are some things beyond anyone's control like the weather. But there is an entire task force working behind the scenes to make sure everyone can enjoy this solar experience.

Number 1 Priority: Public Safety

Sergeant Erik Nilssen represents the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department on the Solar Eclipse Task Force. He advised that there would be more police officers on hand that day. In fact, none of the officers will be allowed to take that day off. They do expect traffic to be one of the major concerns for local departments. Sheriff Noah Robinson would like to be able to utilize every deputy available, but some will still be needed for court security. Speaking of court, there are several jury trials scheduled for Monday, April 8, and wanting to experience the once-in-a-lifetime Total Solar Eclipse will not excuse you from jury duty.

Read More: A Free Device Lets the Blind Experience the Total Solar Eclipse

Update From Explore Evansville:

If you were around Evansville for the 2017 eclipse, you might think that it will be the same thing this time around. Nope. For the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse, our region is in the path of totality. Some areas of the country that did have totality in 2017 experienced chaos with traffic and everything else that comes with thousands of visitors in one day.

"Numbers at this time still reflect around 80,000 visitors to the Evansville area. We also anticipate pass-through traffic of up to 25,000 people. 500,000 people are expected to visit the state of Indiana, but estimates from Great American Eclipse say it could be up to 580,000. 

We've seen hotel occupancy tick up over 25% in the past few weeks. Occupancy is sitting close to 70% in the Evansville area. And we anticipate that to continue to trend upward."

Texas Counties Declare State of Emergency

Normally if you hear about a State of Emergency, it is a huge deal. I would say that an extra 80,000 people in the Evansville area at once could signal an emergency situation. Several counties in Texas have preemptively declared a State of Emergency, due to the increase in traffic, and supplies like gasoline could be low. Hopefully, we can all plan ahead, follow the rules, and get through the weekend without complete chaos.

 Here are the specific lengths for totality between 2:01 PM-2:03 PM CST

• PRINCETON 3:54
• NEW HARMONY 3:54
• MT VERNON 3:30
• DARMSTADT 3:26
• EVANSVILLE 3:03
• MORGANFIELD 2:42
• NEWBURGH 2:30
• HENDERSON 2:30

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