OBSERVER Photo By Christopher Blakeslee Daniel Heitzenrater, the Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer and president, welcomes event attendees to the chamber’s discussion on the upcoming Solar Eclipse Friday. It is anticipated that more than 100,000 tourists could be in the county during the April 8 total solar eclipse.

As the April 8, solar eclipse date looms ever closer, county and other governmental officials are warning locals to brace for a possible influx of eclipse watchers to the area.

In preparation for this expected influx of tourists, the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce hosted an informational meeting held at the Marvin House recently. Attendees consisted of local business owners, governmental representatives, service organization representatives and curious residents. Additionally, the chamber lined up several guest speakers; many who are considered subject matter experts in their respective fields along with historical and relevant data pertaining to the upcoming event.

For one speaker who has witnessed 11 other solar eclipses, he shared about one experience he had in Nebraska and the human tidal wave of tourists that overwhelmed the town where he viewed the eclipse.

“The town I went to had a standing population of around 9000 residents. During the eclipse, that number swelled to 48,000 and then more than 124,000,” said Tom Traub, chair of the Martz-Kohl Observatory, solar eclipse committee and NASA Eclipse Ambassador member. “Tourists basically drained all the gas pumps, ate all the food out of the restaurants, left grocery stores bare and basically overran the town.”

While the issues associated with swelling tourist numbers can become a real boon for municipalities located in the totality of the line of travel during the eclipse; the impact on resources, emergency services and travel can not only be devastating, but dangerous as well.

“One eclipse had a 53-mile, bumper-to-bumper traffic jam, and it lasted for 13 hours as well,” said Noel Guttman, Chautauqua County director of emergency services. “This event will attract people from around the world to the 120 mile path of totality; 32 million people live directly within the section of this path. With the potential of 100,000 plus visitors to our area, it can have an impact on emergency services response times and resources.”

The path of totality is described as the path traced on the Earth’s surface by the moon’s shadow, more precisely, the umbra during a total eclipse of the sun, according to eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov .

“Because of the expected increase of tourists to our area, from Erie, P.a. to Buffalo, the United States Coast Guard has moved additional assets to Buffalo and the Great Lakes region – extra helicopters and boats,” said Guttman. “We are expecting all hotels and motels to be sold out, some of our local campgrounds have opened early and are starting to take reservations for this weekend.”

Government officials, the CCCC and the county’s Visitors Bureau are encouraging business to stay open for the duration of the eclipse, and after, to help ease the rush of travelers, which has historically come after an eclipse event, with posters that read “Turn 4 minutes into 4 days of Total Fun” and other marketing material.

“We’ve got posters and multimedia advertising we’re using to get the message out that this is a good place to visit, and don’t get caught in the rush of traffic to leave, stay a day or two and see what else we’ve got to offer,” said Andrew Nixon, president and chief executive officer of the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau.”

Because of the rarity of total solar eclipses, the 2024 eclipse makes it especially attractive to star watchers.

According to science.nasa.gov, “It will be 20 years before there’s a chance to witness a total solar eclipse in the United States again. According to NASA, after the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous U.S. will be on Aug. 23, 2044.”

According to a handout received at the Marvin House presentation the following is various city locations and total viewing time in totality for the April 8 Eclipse: Bemus Point- 3 minutes, 15 seconds; Busti- 2 minutes, 43 seconds; Cassadaga- 3 minutes, 33 seconds; Dunkirk- 3 minutes, 43 seconds; Falconer- 2 minutes, 53 seconds; Fredonia- 3 minutes, 41 seconds; Frewsburg- 2 minutes, 34 seconds; Gerry- 3 minutes, 10 seconds; Jamestown- 2 minutes, 52 seconds; Kenndy- 2 minutes, 52 seconds; Lakewood- 3 minutes, 02 seconds; Lilly Dale- 3 minutes, 34 seconds, Silver Creek- 3 minutes, 43 seconds; Sinclairville- 3 minutes, 21 seconds; Warren, P.A.- 41 seconds.

As a precautionary measure, government officials are advising locals to treat preparations for the eclipse as they would preparation for a large storm.

“We’re advising all residents to have a few days’ food, water and full gas tanks just in case,” said Guttman. “Prepare for this just like you would in case of a huge storm.”

For more information on the upcoming eclipse visit chqgov.com/eclipse