BUFFALO, N.Y. — The total eclipse here in Western New York is still about six months away, but 2 On Your Side is finding that the planning from school districts and emergency management directors is well underway.
"There's 29 counties in New York state that will be affected by this, as well as hundreds of other counties and communities across the country, so this is a very significant event for New York state and for our local region," Chautauqua County emergency services director Noel Guttman said.
That's why Guttman and other area emergency planners are now jointly discussing this once-in-a-lifetime and truly cosmic event with the eclipse and that impact is way beyond solar glasses giveaways.
Guttman says he has spoken with people who experienced an eclipse firsthand in places, such as rural Kentucky in 2017.
He mentioned the comments of one of his dispatchers and police reports.
"He related a story that he was in a rural community to watch the event, and upon leaving it took, I believe he said, 11 hours to go 10 miles," Guttman said.
He added: "Reading a lot of after action reports that I found online, it talks about significant increases in calls for service for police, fire, EMS, and hospitalizations, and with all that added traffic, it's just easy to assume there will be a heavy increase in vehicle-based incidents."
That's because many visitors — we'll call them eclipsers — will travel to view it firsthand with some projections of a million people coming into this area for the eclipse.
Guttman says his level of preparedness planning is comparable to warning residents and visitors to prepare for a winter storm.
"Traffic is going to be the biggest concern that we have, and the related issues from traffic," he said.
At some point it will be complete darkness, and then 40 minutes or so before and after the eclipse with dusk-like conditions for any motorists out on the roads.
And for schools, just about all districts in Erie County, with the exception so far of Buffalo city schools, will be closed that day April 8. For many it will be a one-day extension of their regular week long spring break from the week before.
Hamburg Superintendent Michael Cornell, who is also president of the Erie & Niagara School Superintendents Association, told 2 On Your Side: "A lot of it is safety. The point of totality is supposed to be around 3:30, which is around the time a lot of our kids are getting off buses or walking home or whatever."
He also says it may be difficult to supervise thousands of kids with the danger of looking up at the eclipse without proper solar double lens glasses.
Niagara Falls schools superintendent Mark Laurrie added: "Our plan is to have a half day of school and dismiss students at noon, knowing that the eclipse is going to appear in Niagara Falls around 3:17 in the afternoon. However, we are still contemplating that."
Laurrie said while that half day was supposed to be tied to science lessons, there are other factors he will have to consider before announcing by January his decision for that day.
"We know Niagara Falls is going to be an excellent viewing spot for the eclipse, and we have spoken to our friends in the tourism industry and understand that we are going to have many, many tourists from outside of the area and from within Western New York to come to Niagara Falls," Laurrie said.
"So it's becoming a little bit of a concern, even with traffic and school bus route travel and so forth. We are coming off of a two-week Easter break on that Monday, so it's something to contemplate."
A Buffalo city schools spokesman says classes are still scheduled for that day. But he added discussions are underway with logistical issues and they may opt to cancel school or "explore some other alternative."
Guttman says he and other emergency planners along with the state will hold a series of monthly meetings before April 8 to coordinate their planning.
As he puts it, "Western New York will be heavily affected so this is a concern for all emergency managers, all first responders, and you know we prepare for what might happen and hope that it doesn't."