Officials in Rochester, New York say they have been prepping for the better part of a year as 500,000 people are expected to pour into the city in the days prior to the April 8 event, which is expected to last 3 minutes and 38 seconds. Chief among the concerns for local officials are issues that could arise from traffic, which could mean delays for healthcare workers and patients who need to go to medical centers. “With the influx that would either be on the Thruway, 490, 590…if there is an incident that occurs on one of those main thoroughfares the traffic is going to divert, and it’s going to go into places that aren’t readily available for that influx of traffic,” Robert Johnson, the Senior Director of Emergency Preparedness for Rochester Regional Health, told a local NBC affiliate. Various helicopter landing zones have been setup throughout the area, which can be used in critical situations if traffic delays impede ambulance transports. Hospitals also will be using dedicated channels and radios to communicate with first responders. “We know Strong West, our free standing emergency department in Brockport, is likely to see an increase in volume. So, we’re staffing up there and same here at Strong. And in fact, one of the things that we’re doing is we’re putting a number of providers on standby — additional people on-call, so if we need to call in extra staff, we are prepared to do that,” David Chafetz, the director of the Strong Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Preparedness Team, told NBC. Numerous events have been planned in the weeks leading up to the eclipse, including a bottomless brunch, planetarium shows, book signings, camping events, a silent disco, barbecues, a disc golf tournament, and a three-day music festival. The eclipse will follow a trajectory in a Southwest direction from Maine through Buffalo, New York and Cleveland, Ohio, then pass through Evansville, Indiana, Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio, Texas. Officials in Texas have also issued an emergency declaration, telling local residents that officials expect the eclipse to “double the population of Bell County several days prior to and the day of leading to extreme traffic congestion, strains on first responders, hospitals, food, grocery, and fuel shortages, along with local infrastructure.” The advisory says residents should avoid driving between April 5-8, expect travel delays, and fully fuel vehicles, purchase groceries, and refill prescriptions before April 4.Hospitals and emergency responders are steadily preparing for chaos that is expected from hundreds of thousands of people flocking to catch a glimpse of a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse.
