CUYAHOGA COUNTY — Tens of thousands of people will descend on northeast Ohio for the total solar eclipse one month from now.
Local leaders have been warning us to prepare by stocking up on food and supplies, charging our phones, and staying home.
About two years ago, emergency managers in Cuyahoga County went into planning mode, and they reached across state lines for guidance.
This has people, including Aaron Rigsby, making plans to travel to Cleveland for the big event.
Rigsby crisscrosses the country, documenting Mother Nature’s wrath.
He’s a professional storm chaser with Ohio roots who’s prepping for the global phenomena.
“Even gear is hard to come by,” Rigsby said.
Rigsby recently changed plans to join the masses in northeast Ohio for the total solar eclipse.
“Pretty much the preparations that go into that are similar to the disaster that I cover,” Rigsby said. Like having extra food, water and gas.
“This room will be pretty full,” said Bryan Kloss.
Kloss is the Emergency Operations Center manager for Cuyahoga County.
Since 2022, they’ve looked at every aspect, from critical infrastructure to schools, police and fire.
“What do you need in order to, if we jump our population from 1.3 million to 2.5 million can your system sustain that?” Kloss said.
Kloss said surveys ranged from 100,00 to a million people.
"You can only fit so many people into downtown Cleveland you can only fit so many people in each city right so we’re going to plan accordingly to make sure all 59 jurisdictions are prepared,” Kloss said.
Kloss said they have enough staff, hospitals are aware, and traffic plans are in place.
“When something occurs we’re able to respond immediately, get the information to who it needs to go to and find the resources we need and get it to the scene wherever we need it,” Kloss said.
They’ve been running scenarios when the center isn’t activated.
Worst cases, Kloss said, would be significant traffic congestion and loss of cell communication.
“We experienced it during the Cavs Championship Parade where we had some cellular issues downtown. It's all due to bandwidth right? Systems can only handle so much,” Kloss said.
They also bounced off ideas with the city of Nashville, which experienced 2017’s solar eclipse.
“And they compared it to what we would compare it to an All Star game and NFL draft events along those lines,” Kloss said.
One thing Kloss said stood out in those conversations was the travel tactics of science enthusiasts.
“Folks would actually book locations in multiple places along the route and ten days, five days two days out they’re checking the weather,” Kloss said.
Rigsby chased the 2017 eclipse in rural Oregon.
“Basically, you have to be prepared to be stuck for a very long time,” Rigsby said.
He said it took him roughly four hours to get back on the road.
“You take that over these densely populated cities and suburbs. I would not be surprised if some of those people are waiting double that to get out of the parking lots and get moving along the interstates,” Rigsby said.
But Rigsby said the wait is so worth it.
“It’s just something that words can not describe,” Rigsby said.
