PREBLE COUNTY — The total solar eclipse is exactly one month away.
All kinds of people will be traveling to the Miami Valley to get a view from the path of totality.
Mark and Margie Davis won’t have to leave their yard in Miami County to take in the solar eclipse from inside the path of totality.
“We’re not big into big traffic. We like the country. So, yes, we’re staying home.” Margie said.
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Mark said he’d be just fine catching an eclipse view from the comfort of his own home.
“Yes, they’re unique, but to travel for them? I would never travel for an eclipse,” he said.
But he knows plenty of people will travel to the Miami Valley to catch a glimpse.
“Evidently, many, many are, yes,” Mark said.
In Preble County, Sheriff Mike Simpson is one of several county officials who said they’re planning for their population of around 41,000 to double on eclipse day.
That means all kinds of extra traffic on US-40 and I-70 which run through Preble County.
It’s one of our communities in the path of totality.
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“Not knowing what the crowds are going to be. I don’t know what it’s going to take to kind of thin things out, but the interstate stuff is what we’re really expecting issues on if we get the crowd,” Sheriff Simpson said.
Sheriff Simpson said his office has a vacation blackout, no pun intended, for eclipse day on a Monday and the weekend leading up to it.
He wants extra staff in their dispatch center and on the roads to handle extra calls for service and traffic congestion.
First responders are planning now to make sure if there’s gridlock on the roads, they can get to the scene quickly in case of an emergency.
“Enjoy the event. But know that we could have a lot of people, a lot of traffic. Just be patient,” Sheriff Simpson said.
That’s something the Davis’ plan to do without leaving home.
“Yeah. I hope it’s a bright, sunny day,” Mark said.
Many local organizations have said they are planning their eclipse parties and festivals to try and counter traffic jams once the eclipse is over.
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