Holmes County already preparing for the 2024 eclipse
While the coming eclipse in April 2024 will be exciting to watch, there will be a great deal of preparatory work for the county including dealing with what is expected to be an enormous influx of visitors to the western half of the county, where the eclipse will experience total darkness around 3 p.m.
While the highly anticipated eclipse of 2024 is more than five months away, Holmes County isn’t waiting around to react to any challenges that might surface from the total darkness that is slated to take place when day turns to night on Monday, April 8 around 3 p.m.
Holmes County Emergency Management Agency Director Jason Troyer met with a handful of local leaders from various emergency management organizations to flesh out some of the minute details that can accompany such an event.
While turning from day to night for a couple of minutes might not seem like it would be that harrowing for a county, Holmes County, especially the northwestern portion, will be a destination for many people because it is in the heart of the eclipse, and viewing a rare occurrence like this is something that can draw a major crowd.
“Our biggest concern during this event will be transportation and the influx of people coming to the area to view the eclipse,” Troyer said. “With 70% of the U.S. population located within a day’s drive of Ohio, the expectations are that there are going to be a lot of people traveling to the area to watch the eclipse. Estimates are that Holmes County could triple its population during the event, and that’s a lot of people.”
Troyer said the last time the nation experienced a total eclipse in Ohio was in 1806, with the next one expected to be in 2444.
He said that type of rare occurrence gets people excited and spurs them to travel to where the viewing is best.
With travel concerns first on the list and with many vehicles coming to the area and some of them stopping along the roadside to watch, there are additional health and safety concerns that could bring Pomerene Hospital into the equation.
“We have to be prepared for the worst possible situations, and Pomerene could get overcrowded if that worst-case scenario happens,” Troyer said. “As a tourism-based county, we are used to travelers coming to our area, but not those types of travel numbers.”
He said with many of Holmes County’s roads being narrow, curvy and hilly, coupled with buggy and bike travel, there are added dangerous scenarios with the increase in anticipated travelers.
“If we see people pulling off the side of some of our roads, they are so narrow that they will effectively take away an entire lane,” Troyer said. “It could become especially dangerous if people start to take the back roads to divert themselves from the state routes to leave the area.”
Another factor is feeding the masses. Troyer said many of the local restaurants aren’t open on Mondays, and he is currently in discussion with many area restaurants to see if they could be open for this special occasion.
“We’ve partnered with the Chamber of Commerce, and they are going to reach out to the area restaurants to see if they’d be willing to open. Because if you look at all the needs during this event, feeding people is going to be one of the most basic needs,” Troyer said.
The EMA and chamber are currently tracking local lodging locations and camp sites to observe their reservations for that date. He said they will continue to monitor that to give the county some semblance of how many people to expect.
“That’s going to be a big precursor to estimate the numbers,” Troyer said. “We will be looking at it more closely after January.”
Another concern will be the local schools and busing safety issues. Troyer said the time frame for the eclipse coincides with the time many elementary buses will be transporting children. In addition, there are many children who walk home from school, and with the unusual conditions, their safety comes into play more than ever.
“There are concerns with deadlock in the traffic, which could cause big issues with busing,” Troyer said. “Right now our schools are debating the idea of closing that day. If schools close, that takes a big burden off of the county.”
He said if anyone is walking during that time, they need to have reflective vests and flashlights at their disposal to aid in safety.
Additional meetings are scheduled to take place as the event draws nearer, but Troyer said an event of this magnitude deserves the county’s attention well in advance.
Another issue will be the ability to use cell phones. With so many people expected, it could be a struggle for people to gain cell phone service, should they experience heavy traffic and are delayed.
Other issues like setting up Porta Potties and many others were discussed by the committee including members from the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, Millersburg Police, Holmes Fire District #1, Killbuck FD, Holmes County Engineer’s Office, Holmes County Health District, East and West Holmes Schools, and Holmes County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Assistant EMA Director Jordan Tschiegg has helped create an interactive map on the Holmes EMA website that shows exactly when and where the eclipse will start and end through various parts of the area.
“This really gives people a chance to see exactly when and where the eclipse will be at any time during the event, which is pretty cool,” Tschiegg said.
The timing for Holmes County will begin with partial totality at 1:57 p.m., with total totality between 3:13 and 3:25 p.m. and the end of partial totality at 4:28 p.m.
“I’m excited about it because it’s going to be a very rare and unique event that people will remember,” Troyer said. “Our goal is to make sure it’s a good memory for people, and with an estimated additional 80,000 people coming into the county, it’s going to be a challenge.”