A Texas judge is urging pet owners to stock up on supplies for their animals in advance of the total solar eclipse next month.
On April 8, the moon will be positioned so that the entire disc of the sun will be blocked out in several U.S. states, plunging millions of people into darkness during the early afternoon. The path of totality will start in Mexico and extend across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine before heading out over the North Atlantic.
The spectacle is expected to draw crowds from around the nation as people head to areas in the path of totality to witness the eclipse. Texas officials have voiced concerns about stretched public safety resources, an "enormous strain" on local hospitals and congested roadways.
The concerns prompted Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly to issue a disaster declaration on March 4, in which he said that the influx of visitors could "drain our food and fuel supplies and strain our city and county infrastructure to, quite possibly, over capacity."
Kelly singled out pet owners and urged them to purchase any supplies needed to tend to their animals a week before the eclipse.
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"I encourage you to stay off the roads and at home, if possible, on the day of the event," Kelly said, according to a webpage about the disaster declaration. "Also, in the week preceding the event, I would encourage you to make sure your vehicles are tanked up, that you have sufficient grocery supplies, that your prescriptions are filled and that you are stocked up on provisions for any animals in your care over the duration of eclipse weekend."
In the disaster declaration, Kelly said that the county of 53,000 people could easily see a tripling of its population because of visitors for the eclipse. The declaration will remain in effect until terminated by the county judge at some point after the eclipse date.
The Kerr County offices will be closed during the eclipse, with employee safety given as the reason. Many schools in the region also plan to close for the day out of concern for student safety. For example, Hays County schools will close. The district previously planned to be open for the event and even purchased viewing glasses for all students so they could safely observe the eclipse.
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Glasses will now be sent home with students, along with "fun activities and assignments for eclipse day," Hays school district spokesperson Tim Savoy previously told Newsweek in a statement.
Issuing a disaster declaration allows counties to request state assistance and resources from the Texas Division of Emergency Management should they be needed. Newsweek reached out to TDEM by email for comment.
Although only certain states will be in the path of totality, every state in the contiguous U.S. will be able to see some form of the eclipse, with only small parts of Hawaii and Alaska missing out.
The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was on August 21, 2017. The next one will not occur in North America until 2044.
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