Emergency Services Already Planning For Eclipse

After this week’s HOG Rally, the solar eclipse will be the next big thing on the Upper Cumberland’s horizon.

Cities, state parks and Tennessee Tech have events planned to celebrate the once-in-a-lifetime event. Putnam County Emergency Management Director Tyler Smith said the county is planning for a big event.

“There is a safety plan in place, Tech’s working on their side of it, we meet to discuss different things, even the hotels filling up a lot of them will be at capacity, they’re filling up so no rooms available,” Smith said.

Usually, big events means the county’s emergency services create a plan and walk through the area to discuss safety concerns, Smith said. But the eclipse is simply too large.

“With the eclipse, this is the first time we’ve had this and we don’t know how many people to expect, so you just sorta plan for the most people you can and hope for the best, but the biggest issue is going to be traffic control,” Smith said.

The emergency committee intends to meet several more times before the eclipse on August 21, Smith said.