MOUNT VERNON — Though the solar eclipse isn’t until April 8, it’s already casting a shadow across Knox County.
Emergency officials are already preparing for the possible impact it could have on the region.
Knox County Emergency Management Agency is the leader of preparement measures for the solar eclipse by writing a specific emergency plan for the county, Deputy Director Amy Seward said.
Part of the planning, started in 2022, is educating community partners about the eclipse and also meeting with county EMAs to discuss plans and monitoring specifics for the event.
“Along with having an open conversation with our local law enforcement and emergency services and discussing what problems they could potentially face the day of the event,” Seward said.
“We plan on having a tabletop exercise with key planning partners sometime this winter to go over problems that the county could face during the event period.”
The list of organizations in the continuum runs wide with the EMA working with other county agencies, local schools, Kenyon College and MVNU, villages/parks and recreation, the hospital and the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County.
All Knox County public schools are navigating the solar eclipse in different ways.
Danville and Fredericktown Local Schools are letting students have the day off while Centerburg Local Schools are having an early dismissal at 1 p.m.
East Knox Local School District is thinking about how to move forward with the eclipse, EK interim superintendent Jim Peterson said.
Attempts to reach Mount Vernon City Schools were unsuccessful.
Along with the local organizations and agencies sharing information and giving out glasses, Knox County Chamber of Commerce and Knox County Convention & Visitors Bureau will take the lead to market events and information regarding the total solar eclipse for Knox County.
More information will be available later this fall at https://www.visitknoxohio.org/
What’s the biggest challenge Knox County faces?
Seward expects traffic to increase as people travel through the area to witness the solar eclipse.
Since Knox County is on the southern limit of the total eclipse, people from beyond the area could be seeking other viewing areas north of Knox County and travel through to avoid Interstate traffic.
Knox County has one divided highway (Ohio 13), and that is for a stretch of five miles between Mount Vernon and Fredericktown.
Otherwise, the county is dotted by two-lane state roads without wide berms and two-lane county and township roads that have minimal to no berms.
In Knox County, the eclipse will start at approximately 1:57 p.m. when the moon will start to cast its shadow on the Earth as it passes between the Earth and the Sun.
- Centerburg 3:12-14 p.m.
- Danville 3:13-14 p.m.
- Fredericktown 3:12-15 p.m.
- Mount Vernon 3:13-14 p.m.
- Bladensburg, Howard, Gambier and Martinsburg will experience less than a minute of totality but will experience darkness. The event will end by 4:23 p.m. when the moon will no longer be in the path of the Earth and the Sun.
If out-of-town travelers travel through the county’s backroads, there could be an increase in traffic crashes, Seward said.
Weather is the pandora’s box of the eclipse. If it rains and is mostly cloudy, people aren’t as likely to travel for the eclipse. The opposite is true if it’s clear and sunny.
Another predictor for the population is whether local AirBnBs, hotels and short-term rentals are at full capacity.
“The other challenge the county as a whole could potentially face is the lag time in cell phone service. With this event happening statewide and an increase in population, this can tax the cellular network.”
How to view the solar eclipse?
Seward recommends if you want to view the event, make sure you have approved Eclipse Glasses that have ISO Certification.
Seward also advises to complete errands, such as picking up medications, getting groceries and filling up your vehicle, on the Saturday or Sunday before the event, or first thing on Monday morning.
“If you have to work that day, just be aware that there might be an increase in traffic after 4:30 p.m. due to people traveling through the county to go home from the northern part of Ohio,” Seward said.
“There will be some public events happening in the county the weekend before and the day of the event. We encourage the community to participate in these local events.”
Wildlife can be affected during the solar eclipse, as twilight and darkness are going to be happening during the daytime hours.
The onset of twilight and darkness can confuse the wildlife of what time it is and bring them out before their normal time.
Presence for law enforcement and traffic advisory is still in the works, Seward said.
This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part by the generous support of the Knox County Foundation and Kokosing.