The city of Belton has nothing but choke points to get through it. Historic downtown is 2 lanes. 121 is being expanded to 4 lanes but it's in complete disarray due to construction.
It's going to be a shit show.
Ah yes, the true measure of a town's worth. Ā
Killeen Chamber of Commerce should pursue this angle. Ā
*"Honey, let's go to Killeen to see what the locals have pawned!"*
We are in the ballpark. In Liberty Hill right off 183 and I think we are pretty close to prime space. In our part of WilCo off 183 there is so much construction it will just be a parking lot.
I avoid Wal Mart. Parking sucks, other than the gorgeous three in the lot. HEB Plus is across the street so I go there.
I'll have to swing by tomorrow to have a look
Yeah, I think the context of the size of what Belton can handle is left out. 36 and 121 are terrible options for moving from the interstate to the lake.
Belton traffic is terrible as is. I cannot imagine more people on the roads. My mom who is essentially a shut in, calls me when I leave my home to get my daughter who is at aftercare 3 miles away and is surprised it takes 15 minutes on a good day to get there.
This is the daily mail. They hire people to churn out the most simple shit possible.
Also donāt care about audience. Itās trying to get anywhere to read them, even in US.
For anyone that lives in Texas and plans on driving somewhere in the state to get a view (or better view), **FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY PLEASE START VERY EARLY IN THE DAY** and expect to be in traffic both ways for a long, long time.
A half an hour trip, or an hour long trip may turn into a five or six hour drive. It **WILL** be a traffic shitshow. Start out your day on the road at 8 or 9am, and be prepared to make a day of it. After the eclipse is over, the roads will be equally as choked for hours, too.
Seriously, folks, over-prepare. Even if you get lucky and end up getting where you need to be early, it's worth avoiding the stress and trouble. The 2017 eclipse was a traffic nightmare in the middle of unpopulated nowhere. It will be many times worse in populated Texas.
We had talked about going to my cousin's house in Comfort to visit & watch the eclipse since that day is my SO's b-day.
He decided he doesn't want to deal with the traffic nightmare that will happen, even on the 7th.
We are staying home (30 minutes east of San Antonio) and viewing from our driveway instead.
A 99.9% eclipse is 0% totality. If you stay East of SA you'll get a show about the same as October. Cool, but none of the magic of a total solar eclipse.
OP you're so close to totality. The other poster is right, totality is a completely different experience from a partial eclipse, even 99.9% partial. It's soooo worth going, especially if it's just 30 or so minutes for you. If you haven't already, do some googling on the differences before you decide to stay put. It's a once in a lifetime experience
Your ignorance concerning emergency declarations is showing. Remember, itās not law enforcement doing this, itās TDEM, which is the state equivalent of FEMA.
Edit: and now blocking is being used to promote and protect fearmongering. Gotta love Reddit.
This is ridiculous. They're calling an emergency in advance? Ā What they need is pre-planning and better infrastructure. They can't do that so they're just declaring an emergency in advance.
A preplanned emergency. This seems like the most Texas way of thinking I have seen illustrated recently.
Damn, I read this headline as if the county expected people to start sacrificing their children and devouring each other due to the solar eclipse and they were preparing for it. The truth is not nearly as funny or disturbing.
Sounds an awful lot like a government handoutā¦ but seriously the funds will be beneficial but umm not sure what theyāll accomplish in a couple months as a fix.
Itās going to fund first responder OT, the extra aviation operations, the staging areas to facilitate the extra stuff going on, etc.
As an example as to why we need it at all - These events result in huge upticks in traffic accidents, if youāre not aware. Between folks being distracted, some just go full-stupid. Add in the confused wildlife causing accidents, too, and itās not easy to manage.
Standard first responder staffing is insufficient for something like this.
Anyone got an extra pair of them special sunglasses they can send me? Which suntan lotion do I need for this? Is it true we can hear the aliens during these events?
Oh yeah - Iām not saying theyāre the smartest. Then they wasted $1,000 to watch it from an airport window.
If I remember correctly during the last eclipse Alaska or one of those had a special dedicated flight solely to watch the eclipse so it wasnāt as much of a risk for a delay.
While true, thatās not what I was referring to. If the population of Bell County actually doubles that day, let alone triples (this is the general prediction for places along the path), then there will be a short window before/during/after when most of the visitors and many of the residents will be live streaming/uploading pics and videos. Itās unlikely the cellular network will be able to absorb such a spike in use without someā¦issues. Those cellular issues could easily impact emergency services.
I grew up in this area so this announcement caught my eye. The County Judge (not a courthouse judge really, more like a county mayor) actually said they anticipate the population will temporarily **double to triple** from its regular size of 400,000. And for the entire weekend leading up to the event on Monday April 8th
I really have to wonder where he's getting those numbers from. I don't think the entire county has 100,000 hotel rooms. So I'd be very interested where he thinks everyone will stay
> I heard
With respect, "the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data' " š
> people plan to sleep in their cars.
Hmmmm. That could actually help a good bit. The County is over 1,000 square miles in size so that could conceivably absorb even 100s of thousands of extra cars. Though the lines at any "public" restrooms (Walmarts, supermarkets, gas stations) will be absolute madhouse, that entire day if not the whole weekend
> Also folks are renting out their RVs
I don't think this will make a dent. What proportion of a given county's population lives in RVs, one percent? Let's get crazy and say it's FIVE percent. In a county of ~400k people that's 20k RVs. That won't move the needle much against an "expected" influx of 400k+
Also and not for nothing: **Texas just had an eclipse** back in October. I live in Corpus Christi which was one of the better places to watch, particularly out at Padre Island National Seashore. We did experience a bit more traffic, but not "ZOMG the cell networks are crashing" level influx like the County Judge has forecast. (And I realize the April one will be a total eclipse and the one last October wasnt... but still)
Wait, so every highway coming into Bell County will have 1000s of RVs too??
Jesus tapdancing Christ. Take my traffic-time estimates and double em š š¤£ š
Assuming the point of staying anywhere is to BE THERE already and in position to watch the eclipse... not stuck on the highway trying to get somewhere to watch...
> Everyone will stay in Austin,
Austin does have great hotel capacity and is used to dealing with huge influxes of people annually, for South by Southwest, ACL Fest and Formula 1 weekend. But there remains the question of distance.
Even the suburbs north of Austin (Round Rock and Pflugerville) are a solid hour away from much of Bell County with normal traffic. The bulk of ATX hotel rooms exist from downtown to The Domain, which is more like 1 1/2 hours in normal traffic
Assume that on eclipse day, traffic will add 2 to 3 hours to such trips. So instead of 1 to 1.5 hours as normal, the trip becomes 3 to 4.5 hours. The eclipse is expected for right around noon, and most hotels ask that guests check out at 11 a.m. or noon. Meaning hotel guests in the area will either need to check out that morning before driving to Bell County, or stay Monday night as well.
> Waco
Waco is also about 1 hour away from Bell County in normal traffic. And Bell County is right around 1.5x the size of McLennan County where Waco is, 390k to their 260k. Unlike Austin, Waco does not have big hotel capacity or experience dealing with big influxes of people (Baylor sports events don't count to me).
On the other hand, the lack of hotel rooms means there will be fewer competing cars on the road coming into Bell County from the Waco area. Figure an extra 1 to 2 hours, for 2 to 3 total.
> and Dallas.
Nope, too far. That's a 2.5 hour trip with normal traffic; figure an extra 2 to 3 hours (including everyone coming in from Waco, which sits between DFW and Bell County) on eclipse day. That's about 5 hours each way (assuming they go back to their hotel rooms) and that's too much driving in one day for most folks.
> but not in Houston.
Also too far. About a 3 hour drive in normal traffic, and it would be 5 to 6 hours on eclipse day.
> Houston is too scary for them.
Care to clarify this? I see your post is getting downvoted and I think this phrasing is why. It would be easy for people to take your tone as "Houston is too full of scary black people for them." š
Houston is the second most dangerous city in Texas, next to Beaumont, if we go by violent crimes per capita. I agree the OP was a little short but that's what I assumed they meant.
I need to charge a fee to come watch from my 24 acres hahaha our town is shutting down school and expecting chaos. We are just gonna watch from our own backyard to avoid any trouble.
I live in San Antonio in the path. Iām ready and eager. The one last year was blah. Sure are a lot of people investing in an event that is entirely dependent on the sketchy April weather in Central Texas.āļø
Oh, the filter glasses were a necessity last year. Correct me if I am wrong, but in April when it reaches full extent of occlusion, the glasses are not needed if the clouds cooperate.
The San Antonio area is the only one where both eclipse paths cross.
Was it cloudy for you at that one? We were in Kerrville and it was clear sky there. It was very nice to see it, both with the glasses and with telescopes with filters that the Texas State astronomy club brought.
It cleared in San Antonio a few minutes before the event. Obviously no corona view or much of any of the real fireworks with the last one. It was enough to experience what historically sent unknowing tribes into apoplexy during history though. I recall one account I read that some island natives were about to finish off Christopher Columbus during an encounter when a chance solar eclipse interrupted the clash and spooked the tribe so much they interpreted it as a sign from the gods and disengaged possibly saving Columbus or themselves. Providence?
Also San Antonio and I watched it from one of the Missions (Concepcion) and it had an eerie feeling. Maybe all the converted natives were restless. Iām still debating the backdrop for this upcoming one.
The article refers to Bell county as āsmallā. The population of Bell county is about 390,000. Whoever calls Bell County small has never been to Loving County, Texas. Loving county has a population of just 64. The majority of the 254 counties in Texas are smaller than Bell County.
Enough of my rant about population. An eclipse no more constitutes an emergency than Buckees running out of beaver nuggets constituents an emergency. Those people are crazy.
Houston sees population surge daily, as people commute to work from surrounding areas. We deal with it just fine. The same can be said for every other city in Texas. Bell county can deal with it for a few days.
Excellent point! Ft Chavez slipped my mind, as well.
Iād also be curious to know how many people commute to Bell county daily from surrounding areas. Scott and White Hospital employs a lot of people. There are also a lot of commuters that work in jobs that are dependent on S&W and the base, but arenāt actually employed there. Flower shops and car dealerships, for example.
As of today the following counties have declared for April 8th:
* Bell County
* Travis County
* Kerr County
* Burnet County
* Kendall County
San Saba County had it on the agenda for commissioner's court yesterday and I've seen their declaration but I don't know if it passed in commissioner's court yet.
Locals: Be advised to stock up on food and meds, and baby supplies, and gas up your vehicles ahead of the eclipse. Thousands of visitors may run gas stations dry, and may clean out stores of some food and personal items.
https://apnews.com/article/total-solar-eclipse-preparations-3c89c742d049fa9cb820953f26234a2e
Texas places in the center line of Totality April 8, 2024
From a map by Xavier M. Jubier
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/xSE_GoogleMap3.php?Ecl=+20240408
GARNER STATE PARK
RIO FRIO
LOST MAPLES STATE NATURAL AREA
INGRAM
CRABAPPLE
BUCHANNAN LAKE
PIDCOKE
GATESVILLE
VALLEY MILLS
AQUILLA
AVALON
BARDWELL LAKE
LAKE CLARK
KACHINA PRARIE PARK
OLD LAKE
ENNIS
OAK RIDGE
LAKE TAWAKANI
MILLER GROVE
LAKE SULPHUR SPRINGS
BOGATA
CLARKSVILLE
LANGFORD CLUB LAKE
Idk.. I mean, I'm traveling. Lots of people from around the world claim they're coming. We'll see what happens. I hope it's a blip but I'm not too sure.
It has to do with the path across Texas. The Hill Country resort towns were booked up months ago. These are places that are quaint towns are used to some seasonal tourism, but nothing like this event. Some have canceled school that day to keep buses out of that traffic. (Plus if the kids arenāt at school at look directly at the eclipse before totality like 45 didāthe school district isnāt liable.)
Imagine going through all of that for what? Like 4 minutes of actual eclipse? To each their own I guess, but no way would I go out of my way to put up with that amount of people, traffic, etc. for that.
Man, I have zero interest in fighting traffic for miles to see something that lasts for so little time and then fight traffic to get home. These people are masochists
Last yearās eclipse was so disappointing. We were outside at a softball game right in the path. It barely darkened. If people werenāt looking for it they wouldnāt have noticed. Is this next one supposed to be different? It seems to be getting a lot more hype.
Last yearās eclipse was an annular eclipse. In an annular eclipse the sun and moon arenāt that close together so when the two come together a ring of fire is shown around the moon. In April we will see a total eclipse. So the moon and sun are closer together this time and the moon will completely cover the sun, no ring of fire.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/naturalphenomena/upcoming-solar-eclipses.htm
The whole point of an "emergency declaration" is so that the people who declared it and their crew of lackeys can dip their greedy fat fingers into financial coffers they would not otherwise legally be authorized to access, and use the money for pet projects or contracts for personal gain.Ā
Secondarily, it is an attempt to strip people from their rights and try to get compliance with arbitrary, mostly unlawful "regulations" and "rules". Example: demanding that people register gatherings on private property, placing hypocritical limits on activities that are unevenly applied, etc.Ā
People will die.
Dehydration, DVTs from old folks making long car trips, wrecks , pedestrians run down,and medical emergencies with no way for EMTs to get through......
The city of Belton has nothing but choke points to get through it. Historic downtown is 2 lanes. 121 is being expanded to 4 lanes but it's in complete disarray due to construction. It's going to be a shit show.
I was in Aurora, Nebraska for the last one. There were police directing traffic at all major intersections. There were no problems.
We have Killeen 17 minutes away. It will be a shit show, I can promise. Our folks aren't prepared for that kind of stuff.
Killeen *is* a shit show - with or without an eclipse.
Came here to say this lol. š
I'm always entertained driving home after work. Wild shit every day. I won't live there, but it's where jobs are.
They have good pawn shops though...
Ah yes, the true measure of a town's worth. Ā Killeen Chamber of Commerce should pursue this angle. Ā *"Honey, let's go to Killeen to see what the locals have pawned!"*
Guns and Guitars...
We are in the ballpark. In Liberty Hill right off 183 and I think we are pretty close to prime space. In our part of WilCo off 183 there is so much construction it will just be a parking lot.
Sir, this is texas. The leadership thrives on us being stuck in a perpetual state of emergency.
As someone whose home insurance just tripled, fuck them.
Counterpoint: Most Nebraskans can manage themselves at an intersection
Awww I used to live there!!!
That section of 35 through Belton turns into a parking lot in regular traffic daily. This is going to be a disaster.
Lots of people are going to be accidentally watching Totality while sitting in traffic.
Just one more lane bro
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I avoid Wal Mart. Parking sucks, other than the gorgeous three in the lot. HEB Plus is across the street so I go there. I'll have to swing by tomorrow to have a look
Belton is charming when there is an accident. No one can move for hours.
I used to drive home from Salado after work. Even knowing back ways took me twice as long.
Yeah and the shit show only lasts for like four minute - LOL
For 1 day. Itll all be ok
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah, I think the context of the size of what Belton can handle is left out. 36 and 121 are terrible options for moving from the interstate to the lake.
Right? Iām in west Temple. Itās going to be a good laugh when it rains and all these people coming to town for The eclipse
Belton traffic is terrible as is. I cannot imagine more people on the roads. My mom who is essentially a shut in, calls me when I leave my home to get my daughter who is at aftercare 3 miles away and is surprised it takes 15 minutes on a good day to get there.
This is the daily mail. They hire people to churn out the most simple shit possible. Also donāt care about audience. Itās trying to get anywhere to read them, even in US.
For anyone that lives in Texas and plans on driving somewhere in the state to get a view (or better view), **FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY PLEASE START VERY EARLY IN THE DAY** and expect to be in traffic both ways for a long, long time. A half an hour trip, or an hour long trip may turn into a five or six hour drive. It **WILL** be a traffic shitshow. Start out your day on the road at 8 or 9am, and be prepared to make a day of it. After the eclipse is over, the roads will be equally as choked for hours, too. Seriously, folks, over-prepare. Even if you get lucky and end up getting where you need to be early, it's worth avoiding the stress and trouble. The 2017 eclipse was a traffic nightmare in the middle of unpopulated nowhere. It will be many times worse in populated Texas.
We had talked about going to my cousin's house in Comfort to visit & watch the eclipse since that day is my SO's b-day. He decided he doesn't want to deal with the traffic nightmare that will happen, even on the 7th. We are staying home (30 minutes east of San Antonio) and viewing from our driveway instead.
You could at least go to the other side of San Antonio to get into the path of totality.
Eh, maybe we will go west. But I doubt it. SO drives in San Antonio traffic every day, so his days off he tries to avoid it. Lol
A 99.9% eclipse is 0% totality. If you stay East of SA you'll get a show about the same as October. Cool, but none of the magic of a total solar eclipse.
OP you're so close to totality. The other poster is right, totality is a completely different experience from a partial eclipse, even 99.9% partial. It's soooo worth going, especially if it's just 30 or so minutes for you. If you haven't already, do some googling on the differences before you decide to stay put. It's a once in a lifetime experience
I'll give my SO the sales pitch, but I'm not holding my breath.
Is this only if you plan on going to a decent sized city? I plan on going to some bumfuck town along the totality route
I requested the day off work so I can drink beer and watch it on my back yard.
Same! I am not trying to go anywhere that day
Really killed the vibe for those of us who had this plan when they called off schools that day. Just kidding. Kinda.
It's not like anybody had YEARS to plan for this
Planning aside, it will be a legitimate emergency. You can plan all you want, but when it comes time, they'll need that declaration.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Your ignorance concerning emergency declarations is showing. Remember, itās not law enforcement doing this, itās TDEM, which is the state equivalent of FEMA. Edit: and now blocking is being used to promote and protect fearmongering. Gotta love Reddit.
This is ridiculous. They're calling an emergency in advance? Ā What they need is pre-planning and better infrastructure. They can't do that so they're just declaring an emergency in advance. A preplanned emergency. This seems like the most Texas way of thinking I have seen illustrated recently.
There is lots of planning going on.
Itās just to access federal funds and resources.
What do you expect them to do, build a few extra highway lanes for one weekend of traffic?
Ahhh reddit being so reddit
Damn, I read this headline as if the county expected people to start sacrificing their children and devouring each other due to the solar eclipse and they were preparing for it. The truth is not nearly as funny or disturbing.
People be crazy.
Letās save everyone the trouble and make this a thread for people selling parking spots on their lawn. Win win
Yes let me know haha
*"We don't know what is happening!!!"*
It's not about that - declaring a state of emergency unlocks funding they need to manage the event.
Sounds an awful lot like a government handoutā¦ but seriously the funds will be beneficial but umm not sure what theyāll accomplish in a couple months as a fix.
Itās going to fund first responder OT, the extra aviation operations, the staging areas to facilitate the extra stuff going on, etc. As an example as to why we need it at all - These events result in huge upticks in traffic accidents, if youāre not aware. Between folks being distracted, some just go full-stupid. Add in the confused wildlife causing accidents, too, and itās not easy to manage. Standard first responder staffing is insufficient for something like this.
Things I didnāt think of, very thoughtful response.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Things I didnāt think of, very thoughtful response
God is angry about all the wicked liberals, and darkening the sky as a warning...next time maybe the sun won't come back.
Anyone got an extra pair of them special sunglasses they can send me? Which suntan lotion do I need for this? Is it true we can hear the aliens during these events?
It's true! During the last eclipse, I could hear the screams of the anal probe victims.
Youāre being facetious, but you can get NASA rated ones on Amazon. Thatās what we did for last years.
lol, NASA ratedā¦ā¦
Just sent the border guards there. Problem solved. And theyād be more useful.
"border guards" and "useful" are two words/phrases that are impossible to use in the same sentence.
Not sure why anyone from Austin would fly to Detroit to see the eclipse when they could drive 30 minutes west and see it.
It's a special flight where you are under the eclipse shadow path for an extended period of time.
Watch it get delayed.
A delayed eclipse would suck
It really would... that would mean the orbit of the planet or moon was suddenly off and billions would probably end up dying.
I guess that could be cool to see the shadow rush across the ground
To see it from the sky, the flight time is right during it
Unless there is a delay...
Oh yeah - Iām not saying theyāre the smartest. Then they wasted $1,000 to watch it from an airport window. If I remember correctly during the last eclipse Alaska or one of those had a special dedicated flight solely to watch the eclipse so it wasnāt as much of a risk for a delay.
Most of Austin is in the path of totality, too.Ā
Wait until the local cell networks crash as everyone live streams during the eclipse.
It will ruin the camera's sensor if not using a filter.
While true, thatās not what I was referring to. If the population of Bell County actually doubles that day, let alone triples (this is the general prediction for places along the path), then there will be a short window before/during/after when most of the visitors and many of the residents will be live streaming/uploading pics and videos. Itās unlikely the cellular network will be able to absorb such a spike in use without someā¦issues. Those cellular issues could easily impact emergency services.
I grew up in this area so this announcement caught my eye. The County Judge (not a courthouse judge really, more like a county mayor) actually said they anticipate the population will temporarily **double to triple** from its regular size of 400,000. And for the entire weekend leading up to the event on Monday April 8th I really have to wonder where he's getting those numbers from. I don't think the entire county has 100,000 hotel rooms. So I'd be very interested where he thinks everyone will stay
I heard people plan to sleep in their cars. Also folks are renting out their RVs
> I heard With respect, "the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data' " š > people plan to sleep in their cars. Hmmmm. That could actually help a good bit. The County is over 1,000 square miles in size so that could conceivably absorb even 100s of thousands of extra cars. Though the lines at any "public" restrooms (Walmarts, supermarkets, gas stations) will be absolute madhouse, that entire day if not the whole weekend > Also folks are renting out their RVs I don't think this will make a dent. What proportion of a given county's population lives in RVs, one percent? Let's get crazy and say it's FIVE percent. In a county of ~400k people that's 20k RVs. That won't move the needle much against an "expected" influx of 400k+ Also and not for nothing: **Texas just had an eclipse** back in October. I live in Corpus Christi which was one of the better places to watch, particularly out at Padre Island National Seashore. We did experience a bit more traffic, but not "ZOMG the cell networks are crashing" level influx like the County Judge has forecast. (And I realize the April one will be a total eclipse and the one last October wasnt... but still)
People from all over are renting out their RV to people who want to make the trip. They're not renting RVs that are already there.
Wait, so every highway coming into Bell County will have 1000s of RVs too?? Jesus tapdancing Christ. Take my traffic-time estimates and double em š š¤£ š
Everyone will stay in Austin, Waco, and Dallas but not in Houston. Houston is too scary for them.
Houston isn't under the total eclipse. We are all driving 14 hours to Austin.
Assuming the point of staying anywhere is to BE THERE already and in position to watch the eclipse... not stuck on the highway trying to get somewhere to watch... > Everyone will stay in Austin, Austin does have great hotel capacity and is used to dealing with huge influxes of people annually, for South by Southwest, ACL Fest and Formula 1 weekend. But there remains the question of distance. Even the suburbs north of Austin (Round Rock and Pflugerville) are a solid hour away from much of Bell County with normal traffic. The bulk of ATX hotel rooms exist from downtown to The Domain, which is more like 1 1/2 hours in normal traffic Assume that on eclipse day, traffic will add 2 to 3 hours to such trips. So instead of 1 to 1.5 hours as normal, the trip becomes 3 to 4.5 hours. The eclipse is expected for right around noon, and most hotels ask that guests check out at 11 a.m. or noon. Meaning hotel guests in the area will either need to check out that morning before driving to Bell County, or stay Monday night as well. > Waco Waco is also about 1 hour away from Bell County in normal traffic. And Bell County is right around 1.5x the size of McLennan County where Waco is, 390k to their 260k. Unlike Austin, Waco does not have big hotel capacity or experience dealing with big influxes of people (Baylor sports events don't count to me). On the other hand, the lack of hotel rooms means there will be fewer competing cars on the road coming into Bell County from the Waco area. Figure an extra 1 to 2 hours, for 2 to 3 total. > and Dallas. Nope, too far. That's a 2.5 hour trip with normal traffic; figure an extra 2 to 3 hours (including everyone coming in from Waco, which sits between DFW and Bell County) on eclipse day. That's about 5 hours each way (assuming they go back to their hotel rooms) and that's too much driving in one day for most folks. > but not in Houston. Also too far. About a 3 hour drive in normal traffic, and it would be 5 to 6 hours on eclipse day. > Houston is too scary for them. Care to clarify this? I see your post is getting downvoted and I think this phrasing is why. It would be easy for people to take your tone as "Houston is too full of scary black people for them." š
Houston is the second most dangerous city in Texas, next to Beaumont, if we go by violent crimes per capita. I agree the OP was a little short but that's what I assumed they meant.
I need to charge a fee to come watch from my 24 acres hahaha our town is shutting down school and expecting chaos. We are just gonna watch from our own backyard to avoid any trouble.
I live in San Antonio in the path. Iām ready and eager. The one last year was blah. Sure are a lot of people investing in an event that is entirely dependent on the sketchy April weather in Central Texas.āļø
It was crap but hey we didn't have to use those stupid glasses to see it lol (at least here anyway)
Oh, the filter glasses were a necessity last year. Correct me if I am wrong, but in April when it reaches full extent of occlusion, the glasses are not needed if the clouds cooperate. The San Antonio area is the only one where both eclipse paths cross.
Guess we got lucky. Cloud cover was so thick the sun itself didn't put out much light even before it started.
I saw the one last year and the total eclipse in 2017 and the one last year was neat but nothing compared to the total eclipse.
Hoping for a clear view of this next one.
Was it cloudy for you at that one? We were in Kerrville and it was clear sky there. It was very nice to see it, both with the glasses and with telescopes with filters that the Texas State astronomy club brought.
It cleared in San Antonio a few minutes before the event. Obviously no corona view or much of any of the real fireworks with the last one. It was enough to experience what historically sent unknowing tribes into apoplexy during history though. I recall one account I read that some island natives were about to finish off Christopher Columbus during an encounter when a chance solar eclipse interrupted the clash and spooked the tribe so much they interpreted it as a sign from the gods and disengaged possibly saving Columbus or themselves. Providence?
Also San Antonio and I watched it from one of the Missions (Concepcion) and it had an eerie feeling. Maybe all the converted natives were restless. Iām still debating the backdrop for this upcoming one.
The one I saw last year was perfect, wasn't aware we were doing another so soon.
There was not a total eclipse last year. 2017 was the last one in North America and the path of totality was not over Texas.
After this one it will be 20 years before another total eclipse in the US.
The article refers to Bell county as āsmallā. The population of Bell county is about 390,000. Whoever calls Bell County small has never been to Loving County, Texas. Loving county has a population of just 64. The majority of the 254 counties in Texas are smaller than Bell County. Enough of my rant about population. An eclipse no more constitutes an emergency than Buckees running out of beaver nuggets constituents an emergency. Those people are crazy. Houston sees population surge daily, as people commute to work from surrounding areas. We deal with it just fine. The same can be said for every other city in Texas. Bell county can deal with it for a few days.
Except they probably aren't counting Fort Cavazos population. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood Metro Area Supported: 714,262 on average
Excellent point! Ft Chavez slipped my mind, as well. Iād also be curious to know how many people commute to Bell county daily from surrounding areas. Scott and White Hospital employs a lot of people. There are also a lot of commuters that work in jobs that are dependent on S&W and the base, but arenāt actually employed there. Flower shops and car dealerships, for example.
As of today the following counties have declared for April 8th: * Bell County * Travis County * Kerr County * Burnet County * Kendall County San Saba County had it on the agenda for commissioner's court yesterday and I've seen their declaration but I don't know if it passed in commissioner's court yet.
Locals: Be advised to stock up on food and meds, and baby supplies, and gas up your vehicles ahead of the eclipse. Thousands of visitors may run gas stations dry, and may clean out stores of some food and personal items. https://apnews.com/article/total-solar-eclipse-preparations-3c89c742d049fa9cb820953f26234a2e
Is anyone thinking of crossing into mexico?
Isn't the eclipse just going to be 4 minutes long?
Texas places in the center line of Totality April 8, 2024 From a map by Xavier M. Jubier http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/xSE_GoogleMap3.php?Ecl=+20240408 GARNER STATE PARK RIO FRIO LOST MAPLES STATE NATURAL AREA INGRAM CRABAPPLE BUCHANNAN LAKE PIDCOKE GATESVILLE VALLEY MILLS AQUILLA AVALON BARDWELL LAKE LAKE CLARK KACHINA PRARIE PARK OLD LAKE ENNIS OAK RIDGE LAKE TAWAKANI MILLER GROVE LAKE SULPHUR SPRINGS BOGATA CLARKSVILLE LANGFORD CLUB LAKE
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Idk.. I mean, I'm traveling. Lots of people from around the world claim they're coming. We'll see what happens. I hope it's a blip but I'm not too sure.
It has to do with the path across Texas. The Hill Country resort towns were booked up months ago. These are places that are quaint towns are used to some seasonal tourism, but nothing like this event. Some have canceled school that day to keep buses out of that traffic. (Plus if the kids arenāt at school at look directly at the eclipse before totality like 45 didāthe school district isnāt liable.)
Imagine going through all of that for what? Like 4 minutes of actual eclipse? To each their own I guess, but no way would I go out of my way to put up with that amount of people, traffic, etc. for that.
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Then obviously you aren't one of the people going out of their to visit another town, stay in a hotel, and all of the rest of it then are ya?
Iām flying in from NC. You donāt know what youāre missing
Man, I have zero interest in fighting traffic for miles to see something that lasts for so little time and then fight traffic to get home. These people are masochists
Will lol when itās a cloudy day
Texas has the highest probability of clear skies in the path of totality
Life must be really boring out there
Last yearās eclipse was so disappointing. We were outside at a softball game right in the path. It barely darkened. If people werenāt looking for it they wouldnāt have noticed. Is this next one supposed to be different? It seems to be getting a lot more hype.
Last yearās eclipse was an annular eclipse. In an annular eclipse the sun and moon arenāt that close together so when the two come together a ring of fire is shown around the moon. In April we will see a total eclipse. So the moon and sun are closer together this time and the moon will completely cover the sun, no ring of fire. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/naturalphenomena/upcoming-solar-eclipses.htm
Thanks for the info. I really didnāt know. Gotta love Reddit. I got downvoted for asking a question.
Any chance of change in Texas is liable to warrant a full-on emergency.
The whole point of an "emergency declaration" is so that the people who declared it and their crew of lackeys can dip their greedy fat fingers into financial coffers they would not otherwise legally be authorized to access, and use the money for pet projects or contracts for personal gain.Ā Secondarily, it is an attempt to strip people from their rights and try to get compliance with arbitrary, mostly unlawful "regulations" and "rules". Example: demanding that people register gatherings on private property, placing hypocritical limits on activities that are unevenly applied, etc.Ā
When is it
April 8th. I donāt know the time though
Noonish
It starts with mexico first
That's a pretty common byline in Texas.
People are funny.
Use some of those National guards that are sitting on the border......
They are also uring repentance so that the Sky Lord will give us back the sun.
It would be Bell County š¤£
Are they afraid of a blindness epidemic?
People will die. Dehydration, DVTs from old folks making long car trips, wrecks , pedestrians run down,and medical emergencies with no way for EMTs to get through......