On Aug. 22, 2017, the Wood County area experienced a partial eclipse, which Bowling Green Middle School students viewed. That will be nothing like the total eclipse, which will occur April 8, 2024 across Northwest Ohio. The Wood County Emergency Management Agency director briefed the Wood County Board of Health on what could be expected at the June meeting.
J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune
The director of the Wood County Emergency Agency is making predictions about a day that is two years away.
On April 8, 2024, schools will be closed, there will be no cell phone service — and the afternoon will be totally dark for 90 seconds around 3 p.m.
Wood County is smack in the path of a total solar eclipse and the planning must start now, EMA Director Jeff Klein told the Wood County Board of Health at its June meeting.
“It’s really interesting how this is going to impact Wood County — and it’s really going to impact Wood County in a big way,” he said.
People who have seen a full eclipse rave about the experience, he said.
“They use the word ‘life changing,’” Klein said. “As it starts getting darker, the animals that are out during the day get quiet, the nighttime animals start making noise, the stars come out — basically you can’t put it into words.
“That’s one of the reasons it draws such a huge, huge crowd.”
Wood County will have a bullseye on it for viewing, Klein said.
Interstates 75 and 80 in the north is the most highly traveled intersection in the United States, he said.
Bowling Green State University has thousands of alumni who will feel comfortable coming here and trying to park in a familiar lot and eat at a nearby restaurant, Klein said.
“We may see people who have kids at Bowling Green State University coming up to visit because we are a prime viewing area.”
He expects Wood County’s population will double that day.
“I personally think … it’s going to be a little bit worse,” Klein said. “Everybody knows this area. We have a lot of parking lots.”
That includes BGSU and Bass Pro in Rossford. Hotels will be sold out and people will be looking for camp sites.
“It’s going to kill the cell phone service,” Klein said.
And while that may panic the average person, first responders really need to start planning for this, he said.
“There will be no neighbors to call because everybody will be in the same boat,” Klein said.
Residents should plan for crowds and stock up on supplies.
“We can expect our grocery stores to be out of food,” Klein said, adding that gas stations will run out of fuel.
It will be a great local income generator, he said. This will not be a one-day event.
Since the eclipse will occur on a Monday, Klein expects many people to stake out a viewing site over the weekend.
At the end of the event, though, most everyone will try to leave at once.
Klein is counting on civic groups to come up with activities and reasons to stay right after the eclipse, so that the highways aren’t clogged.
It will truly be a historic day, he said.
“The last one of these in Ohio was in 1806,” Klein said, adding that the next one in the state will be 2444. “Since 1867, there’s only been about 15 of these visible in the United States.”
The last total eclipse was in 2017 in Kentucky and Tennessee.
“Even here, we got a partial covering,” Klein said. “If you were outside, it really wasn’t very much.”
Still, that Aug. 22, 2017 partial eclipse was big in Wood County. Thousands flocked to the planetarium at Bowling Green State University and donned special glasses to view it.
That event will be nothing like what’s expected for April 8, 2024, Klein said.
It will travel across Ohio from southwest to northeast, taking 10 minutes to move across the state, he said.
The only county in Northwest Ohio that won’t be impacted will be Williams, Klein said.
There will be about 90 seconds of total darkness in the local area in the mid-afternoon, he said.
The totality will enter Ohio near Greenville around 3 p.m. and will exit near Avon Lake around 3:10.
“About 3:o4 or 3:05 is when we can expect to see it,” Klein said. “That’s 2-4 minutes of totality — that’s not the build up to get to it and the waning.
“It will probably start about 1:30 and … about 4:30 is when it’s going to return to (total) daylight.”
April weather could throw a wrench into the eclipse. It could be cold, there may be cloud cover and snow is a small possibility.
Statistically, it is supposed to be a sunny, nice day, Klein said.
The state has formed a task force, which has conducted an initial needs assessment, and started a website, https://eclipse.ohio.gov/.
