Teton County, Wyoming preparing for 2017 solar eclipse
Jackson, Wyoming is no stranger to tourists, but even they have to plan ahead as Mother Nature prepares one of her greatest shows of this generation, a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017.
According to Teton County Sheriff Jim Whalen. “We anticipate anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 visitors to the Teton County region. We’re hoping to get more accurate numbers as the date gets closer, but we know it’s going to be busy.”
Those huge crowds are why emergency personnel, city leaders and the business community got together to coordinate and plan for the big day.
“When you have that many people in one area, there are going to be issues with traffic,” said Rich Ochs, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Teton County. “There could be issues with supplies and commodities, and just with emergency services being able to get to all ends of the county.”
Ochs said traffic and the ability for emergency personnel to get where they need to is one of their biggest concerns. It’s also one they’re already working on.
“So instead of having centrally located services, we’ll have more emergency response agencies such as law enforcement, EMS, fire, at the fire stations so they can get to people quicker,” said Ochs.
County officials also said they’re looking at putting up health triages to handle minor incidents to allow ambulances to focus on more serious incidents.
The business community is also gearing up as it could be one of Jackson’s busiest days ever. “They’re going to have eclispe specials. They’re going to have eclipse trinkets that you can buy,” said Jeff Golightly, the CEO for the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. “I know a lot of the lodging offerings are doing minimum stays.”
Golightly said many of the hotels that allow booking for next year’s eclipse are already full. “Clearly there will be no ability to find a hotel room, a campsite, or any place to stay in the entire community,” said Golightly.
Jackson is one of several cities directly under the path of the total solar eclipse and will witness a completely blocked-out sun for just over two minutes.
