Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Offering Guidance for Upcoming Solar Eclipse

Everyone is preparing for the big solar eclipse event and that includes the Oneida County Sheriff's Office. While this will be an exciting, entertaining and once-in-a-lifetime event, there has to be an abundance of caution taking leading up to April 8th, 2024.

The main focus of the Sheriff's office for this event is preparedness and safety. Sheriff Maciol announced on Facebook the reminder that the norther section of Oneida County will be in the path of the eclipse from approximately 2:07 p.m. until 4:33 p.m. The "totality" of the eclipse will be in that section of the county at around 3:21 p.m. What does that mean for our area?

Maciol says during the 1 minute and 24 seconds of totality, "it will appear to be dark even if it is cloudy, the temperature could fall by as much as 10 degrees, and animals and plants may behave as if it’s nighttime." The most important thing to remember is the safety of the eyes. Maciols says the ONLY glasses permitted to safely view the eclipse are ISO-Certified 12312-2 or 12312-2:2015. They can be found and purchased at https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters.

Read More: Oneida County Executive Warns of Eclipse Traffic

This will also cause major traffic delays as people from all over will be traveling to our area to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon. This will be the case mostly in areas of State Routes 12 and 28. There may be closures to ramps and bridges for viewing and that could cause jams. Maciol believes that traffic will be heaviest before and after totality. Maciol says,

IF YOU PLAN ON LEAVING AFTER THE EVENT, BE PATIENT AND RESPECTFUL OF OTHERS ON THE ROADWAYS.

Maciol also announced a number of things for people to be aware of who may not really care about or care to view the eclipse.

• Potential for delayed/disrupted emergency service responses and prolonged response times.
• Gridlocked traffic may increase fuel, food, and water demand depending on duration.
• Cellular networks may be overloaded by high volume.
• Increase in 911 call volume.
• Fuel infrastructure may not be able to support an increase in vehicular traffic.

Because of a number of these concerns, Maciol is encouraging residents to have plenty of food, water, fuel, charged phones with chargers and make sure you have a plan for viewing.

Most importantly, just have fun and enjoy the experience. Everyone is looking to have a positive experience so don't ruin it by being rude to one another.