Eclipse or Zombie Apocalypse?

Above, Grand Teton National Park's staff ordered 200 extra portable toilets for the
expected crowds as the eclipse's umbra will cross the park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In 22 days, the Great American Eclipse will take place across the continental U.S.

Massive crowds along the path of totality on August 21 are expected. Preparations are being made as if a disaster had occurred.

According to Newsweek.com:

Port-a-potty shortages. Cellular blackout zones. Ambulances stuck in gridlock. These are the conditions emergency managers across the nation are expecting the week of August 21. 

No, a major hurricane isn’t forecast. This isn’t preparation for a cyberattack after someone tipped the FBI. Beyoncé isn’t doing a national tour—but the cause is a star of another kind. 

The upcoming solar eclipse—the first in 99 years to sweep across the continental United States—has so many fans that disaster-level preparations are being put in place because of the large number of travelers predicted to jockey for prime viewing spots. As many as 7.4 million people are expected to pack into a 70-mile-wide band across the U.S. to watch the moon’s umbra block out the sun for a two-minute window on August 21, according to solar eclipse education website GreatAmericanEclipse.com. The path of totality, the area where the sun is completely blocked out, stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.

To read more, go here.

Some are even likening the hoopla to the coming of a zombie apocalypse.

Fox News reported:

While you may have thought to grab eclipse-viewing glasses or make hotel reservations, the massive crowds expected all along the eclipse path could present challenges you haven't considered. 

"There are so many ways in which eclipse day is going to resemble a zombie apocalypse," Angela Speck, a researcher at the University of Maryland and member of the American Astronomical Society's eclipse team, told Space.com by email.

To read more, go here.