Jackson County is in the path of totality (blue line) for the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse. Local tourism and emergency agencies are already in the planning phases, anticipating an influx of visitors to the area next year.
Submitted map
A total solar eclipse will cross Jackson County, Indiana and the rest of North America on April 8, 2024.
That could be good news for the residents of the county or it might be bad news, depending upon who you are, one local county official reports.
“Four hundred days from now, provided we are all still here, we’re going to experience something that hasn’t happened in our area for a long time,” Duane Davis told county commissioners during their recent meeting at the courthouse.
“It will be the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024,” said Davis, director of the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency.
A total eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun. The sky will darken as if it was dawn or dusk.
Davis said the reason he was bringing the issue up with commissioners is that history has shown the population of communities in the path of previous total solar eclipses has tripled. For Jackson County, that could mean as many as 150,000 people could be here in the days surrounding the total solar eclipse.
He mentioned Hodgenville, Kentucky, was in the path of a total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. The eclipse was dubbed “Great American Eclipse” because it spanned the contiguous United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. Prior to that eclipse, no total solar eclipse had been visible across the country since June 8, 1918.
“People came in to view it, which created a huge hardship on the infrastructure in the county,” Davis said of Hodgenville. “A lot of people were coming in camping. Restaurants were full. Gas stations ran out of gas.”
He said in 2024, Bloomington will have more than 4 minutes of totality, while Jackson County have a little more than 3 minutes.
But people will be coming in days ahead of the eclipse and looking for places to camp or stay. One way to judge the number coming will be when the county’s motels and hotels start to become booked up, Davis said.
“It’s something that’s unique, something we are beginning to plan for,” Davis said.
He said the Indiana Department of Homeland Security has had one meeting about the issue, and more meetings are planned.
“There will be some things coming on later in the year,” Davis said.
He said the good side of the total solar eclipse is that visitor centers throughout the state are beginning to plan different events for those visitors.
Davis said the real hardship will come once the eclipse is over with because everyone is going to be trying to leave at the same time. The eclipse is expected to become visible around 1:30 p.m. April 8, 2024, and continue until about 4 p.m. that day.
That will be during the school day and may cause issues for school buses picking up kids to go home, Davis said.
“So that’s what we are planning on right now,” he said. “It’s just something for you to be aware of.”