CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) For just about everyone on planet earth, it’s a once in a lifetime event and it’s happening for all of us right here on August 21. It’s the 2017 Solar Eclipse, and you will want to have a lasting memory of it, but not a lasting injury to your eyes.
The Montgomery County LEPC, Local Emergency Planning Committee, is working to get the word out about being very careful while viewing the eclipse. Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director, Jerry Buchannan talked about the importance of having proper eye protection.
“Looking at the eclipse without proper eye protection will cause severe injury to your eye. Sunglasses are no good. Another concern of ours is scammers are going to be out there selling unsafe glasses,” said Buchannan.
Spencer Buckner, Associate Professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at Austin Peay said you can look at the eclipse with your bare eyes safely during what’s known as the eclipse totality, which is when the moon completely covers the sun. Depending on what part of Clarksville you’re in, the totality will last about two minutes and 10 to 20 seconds.
Buckner stressed that before and after the totality you must wear protective glasses and added there is a certification process that eclipse glasses go through and you want to look for eclipse-certified glasses. You’ll find those at www.eclipseglasses.com. “If someone sells you a dark pair of sunglasses you’re going to damage your eyes with those,” Buckner said.
Another concern for the area is going to be traffic. Depending on the weather, officials estimate several hundred thousand people are expected to converge on the Clarksville and Hopkinsville region.
Buchannan says one of the first problems to deal with is making sure emergency vehicles make it through traffic to where they need to be for police, fire and medical calls. People going to work, getting off work and just traveling around could also be an issue.
Kathryn Schulte, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation says their office is working closely with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to discuss situations involving traffic surrounding the eclipse in the area of the state line.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board voted in January to change August 21 from a regular school day to a staff development day so students wouldn’t have to go to school. The changes made to the school calendar will not impact make up days for students or teachers.
The day will also be a modified day for staff so it doesn’t interfere with travel. “Because this is such a large scale and rare event for this community, and since school buses would have been traveling during the eclipse, it was decided this was the best course of action to take,” said Elise Shelton, Chief Communications Officer for the school system.