Suppose they gave an eclipse and nobody came.
It would take an upgrade to make Godzilla a B-movie.
73, Bob N7XY
On 8/18/17 5:12 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:
Jeez Ron, it sounds like the intro to one of those B-grade disaster
movies from my childhood. No one knows if Godzilla will show up. The
eclipse likely won't extend past the normal attention span of a
teenager ... then everyone needs to leave and return home. I do hope
the hams are ready if needed.
OH, forgot ... there are those who take offense at calling Godzilla a
B-movie. I am truly sorry and I apologize.
73,
Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County
On 8/18/2017 11:57 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
Other than I-5, Oregon's highways are one lane each way with few
exceptions in more built up areas. As Eclipse viewers arrive, the
roads fill up fast. Local news reported that one town in the eastern
Willamette Valley had a 30 mile long bumper-to-bumper back up
yesterday. I-5 should be moving at least.
Here in Newport on the central Oregon coast (within the band of
"totality"), traffic is heavy and growing worse by the day. People
are being reminded that they may NOT camp on the beaches. Besides, we
should have record high tides caused by the sun and moon tides
converging on eclipse day. Many beaches will be under water. Lodging
and camps are at full capacity. In spite of visitors being warned
they will be fined, we expect to find roadsides that have any space
and parking lots everywhere filled with campers and trailers. During
the eclipse we expect to find vehicles just stopping in the road to
watch, oblivious to the fact it stops traffic for as long as they sit
there (that already happens from time to time every summer when
people stop in the middle of the highway, get out of their vehicles,
and take pictures (sigh...).
The local telephone services are installing many hundreds of portable
"towers" to augment the regular cell towers. Even so, I won't be
surprised if Wayne is correct: Amateur Radio may be the most reliable
communications system.
Also, hundreds of additional ambulances are on scene to handle more
emergencies, although whether they will be able to get where they
need to go is in doubt. Many roads have NO shoulders where people can
pull over. A deep drainage ditch runs down each side of most rural
roads just off the edge of the pavement.
A number of helicopter ambulances are arriving to help where
emergency vehicles cannot reach.
National Guard personnel are being dispatched to help with traffic in
various locations and they have better off-road vehicles for places
where the highways are jammed.
One major concern locally is on the morning of the 21st when people
here discover the sky is overcast (as it usually is on the coast this
time of year- at least until noon) they will try to head east along
US20, one lane each way through the 3,000 foot coastal mountains, to
reach cloudless skies.
Gas prices up over a dollar ($3.25 yesterday) and are sure to
continue to rise as long as the pumps don't run dry. Gas is delivered
from over the coastal mountains and it's likely that no new
deliveries are being made before the crowds dissipate.
Similarly, grocery store shelves are emptying out and may not be
restocked before the eclipse.
Our local water company is concerned about handling the load imposed
by having 5 or 10 times the normal number of people using it. They
recommend storing extra water now.
Overall the emergency services point out that this is a great test of
our readiness for the anticipated "Cascadia event" that we train for
regularly including strong earthquakes, tsunami and no passable
highways for several days at least.
That may be, but August 22nd will be a great relief!
73, Ron AC7AC
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