Solar eclipse can become a nightmare for the US

The total solar eclipse that will plunge the US into darkness on Aug. 21 causes US emergency services to prepare for impact.

The event, the first of its kind in nearly a century, will attract millions of amateur astronomers and tourists. As a result, authorities are preparing to ensure the safety of the avalanche of people in key areas of observation, Newsweek reported.

The total eclipse will last only two minutes, but it has already been considered the event of the century. About eight million people will observe it in a 113-kilometer stretch that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.

When all amateur astronomers arrive, they will need food and water, lodging and restrooms. Officials are preparing for the lack of toilets, cell phone blackout zones and the possibility of emergency service vehicles being stuck in traffic.

The state of Oregon, with a population of four million people, is expecting at least one million visitors. Officials in Kansas, Missouri, are preparing for the eclipse as if it were a nightmare of snow, Brad Kieserman, vice president of emergency operations at the US Red Cross, told Newsweek. Wyoming Grand Teton National Park expects this to be "the most moving day in history," said Kathryn Brackenridge, a specially appointed eclipse coordinator in Jackson, Wyoming. Hundreds of additional portable toilets were rented to meet the influx of visitors.

"Some of these places have never seen so much traffic," Kieserman said.

Almost all local hotel rooms have been sold out since June. The price of the rooms available is very high and can reach a thousand dollars per night in some hotels.

But that's not a problem for eclipse fans, who waited until the last minute to book their trips. The Red Cross regularly gives victims of fire and other domestic disaster vouchers to hotel so they have somewhere to sleep.

Hundreds of emergency shelters are being prepared in the 12 states most likely to be visited by amateur astronomers. Should an earthquake, a severe heatwave or a hurricane occur in the eclipse week, the Red Cross will be ready, Kieserman said.

But doctors are worried that traffic may block deliveries of drugs and other urgent supplies. Hence, hospitals are stocking up with emergency supplies to avoid any breakage.

Cellular services in the region, not designed to handle another million people per state, are likely to be overburdened, which means that hospitals will have to use landlines and pagers - as in 1997 - if someone wants to call the doctor.

Staff are advising travelers to be prepared, bringing food and water and paper maps, as online GPS applications are likely to stop working in areas of high concentration of people.

As for the lack of hotels, the unprepared can spend the night in their cars.