Niagara Falls is taking precautions. With nearly a million visitors expected in the municipality of 88,000 to view the rare total solar eclipse on April 8, the Niagara region declared a state of emergency in advance.
On Thursday, Area President Jim Bradley declared a state of emergency out of an abundance of caution. “Declaring a state of emergency strengthens the tools available to the region to ensure the health and safety of residents and visitors as well as to protect our critical infrastructure in any scenario that may arise,” reads the press release from press.
“On the highway, don’t stop to take photos”
Faced with the expected clientele, the administrative region advises residents and visitors to anticipate their trips to do their shopping, to avoid as much as possible the queues which should form in businesses. “Follow local guidelines and road signs when traveling on April 8. On the highway, do not stop to take photos or get out of your car to watch the eclipse,” warned the authorities cited by Le Journal de Montréal.
Jim Diodati, the mayor of the Ontario city, said it will be "by far" the largest crowd ever seen in the city. Up to a million people will be present, a colossal figure considering that 14 million people visit the region each year.
“It will be crazy, it will be chaos,” predicts Ian Sullivan, the general manager of the Country Inn and Suites hotel in Niagara Falls, which has been full since December. “The streets will be blocked. There are going to be a lot of coercive measures,” he told Radio Canada.
Also read: Spectacular images of a total solar eclipse in Australia
The famous waterfall, located along the Canada-United States border, is in the "path" of the April 8 solar eclipse. Many enthusiasts plan to travel several thousand kilometers across Canada to be there at 3:20 p.m. local time, when the moon's shadow will cover the sun for three to four minutes. For Canada, this is the first total solar eclipse since 1979, with the next one expected in 2044.