The Freestone County Emergency Management Office has issued a statement regarding the upcoming Solar Eclipse and what County residents should expect and be aware of. The message is as follows:

Over the past several months, Freestone County has worked to prepare for the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse. We’ve met numerous times with our emergency responders, municipalities, civic organizations, state and regional partners, and anyone else who made a request.

ECLIPSE – April 8, 2024
–Start of Partial Eclipse: 12:20 p.m.
–Start of Totality: 1:37 p.m.
–End of Totality: 1:41 p.m.
–End of Partial Eclipse: 3:00 p.m.

WHAT DO WE EXPECT
Thousands and possibly 10’s of thousands of visitors in Freestone County during the April 5-9, 2024, weekend.
Please note that there is no way to know exact numbers for sure, but there are strong indications that this will be the case. We DO NOT expect this to be another Y2K if you’re old enough to remember that.
There will be two types of visitors: TRAVELERS and DAY TRIPPERS.

TRAVELERS are those who are coming in early and plan to stay through the eclipse. They will be from all over the world and will begin arriving days in advance of April 8. Some will arrive on tour buses; others will be in rented cars, RVs, etc. They will stay in hotels, RVs, bed and breakfasts, tents, rental houses, etc. They will need fuel, food, and access to restrooms. They may inundate local restaurants, gas stations, and merchants of all types. They will visit points of interest throughout Freestone County such as Richland Chambers Reservoir, the Trinity River, historic sites, and local hangouts that they’ve found when doing their research on “What to do in Freestone County”, or “Best Bars and Restaurants in Freestone County”.
We expect traffic to be heavy but manageable during the weekend.

DAY TRIPPERS are more local and plan to drive in early Monday morning the 8th, then leave when the eclipse ends. This group is here for the eclipse only. They plan to grab a burger and a beer at local hangouts and maybe shop a little. Otherwise, they want to get here, see the eclipse, and get gone.
We expect very heavy traffic in key areas beginning late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

WHEN THE ECLIPSE ENDS
This is when the traffic chaos really begins! TRAVELERS and DAY TRIPPERS will all try to leave at the same time. Expect total gridlock in many areas as has been the case with other TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE events in recent years. Some will run out of fuel sitting in traffic for hours, others will have bathroom emergencies that just can’t wait. Tempers may flare as frustration grows due to the never-ending traffic backups.

Recommendations for Freestone County residents

–1. STAY HOME! The full eclipse will be visible from all of Freestone County. You can only gain a few more seconds of totality by attempting to drive closer to the centerline of shadow. Believe me, it won’t be worth the trouble!

–2. Make sure you have fuel, food, medicines, etc. to last several days. Do your stocking up well in advance of that weekend. Prepare like you would for an impending winter storm.

–3. If you have visitors coming to stay with you, ask them to arrive a day or so early and plan to stay overnight on Monday. Hopefully, they can get out sometime on Tuesday.

–4. Shut and lock your gates if you have them. In general, I haven’t seen much that indicates people will intentionally damage property or do bad things on purpose, however. If there are issues with private property owners it will be blocking driveways, turning the trees just across the fence into an “emergency restroom,” and leaving trash behind on the roadway types of things.

–5. Don’t call 911 unless it’s really an emergency. More on this when we get closer to the eclipse timeline.

–6. This is not the time to do risky events where you could become injured and might need emergency medical attention. One of our biggest concerns is being overwhelmed with medical calls that we can’t respond to quickly. More on this also as we get closer…

–7. Merchants might consider stocking up on items that our visitors might want to purchase. This could be an exciting time to push the profit margin of your business up!

–8. On the flip side, merchants should be prepared to close their stores if the crowd inside becomes overwhelming leading to damage and theft. Local PD’s may be able to help with some of those issues, but you will likely need to deal with those things on your own because our Law Enforcement will be VERY busy.

–9. If you’re planning on renting space in your yard or pasture for people to stay and watch, we encourage you to talk to an attorney about liability concerns. Things you may want to consider up front: Consumption of alcohol while they’re on your property, where they’re allowed to go on your property, how they will dispose of trash and waste, campfires, fireworks, discharging of firearms, livestock, who’s responsible for towing and damage repair if vehicles stuck in mud becomes an issue, etc.!

We’re hoping for the best but planning for the worst!

Rest assured that Freestone County is as ready as we can be.

For more information about the Great American Solar Eclipse in the State of Texas, visit here.