We’ve intentionally been mum on the eclipse news until today to avoid adding to the over-hype in which the mainstream media has joined.
A rare eclipse like yesterday’s event is indeed a special, once in a lifetime thing.
But what we’ve taken important note of, aside from the celestial awe of the whole spectacle, are the political undertones and the unique fragility of American infrastructure.
In countless little towns along the thin 70-mile strip of real estate within which the total eclipse was viewable, millions of Americans thronged to places hither and yon never meant to cater to so many people in such a short span of time.
In addition to never-before-seen traffic snarls, there were rampant power outages, gas lines and food shortages along the path of the eclipse.
It’s what we might call FEMA’s laboratory.
And it offered a glimpse of what might happen should we fall prey to a multi-region detonation of an EMP or nuclear attack.
And the message we got yesterday is this: we’re not ready.
Here’s more from Daily Mail…
Eclipse mania! Millions of Americans sit in some of the ‘worst traffic jams in history’, flock to Burning Man-style festivals and fill camp grounds at 21 national parks ahead of yesterday’s once-in-a-lifetime celestial event.
Twilight will fall at midday on Monday, stars will glimmer and birds will roost in an eerie stillness as millions of Americans and visitors witness the first total solar eclipse to traverse the United States from coast to coast in 99 years.
The sight of the moon’s shadow passing directly in front of the sun, blotting out all but the halo-like solar corona, may draw the largest live audience for a celestial event in human history. When those watching via broadcast and online media are factored into the mix, the spectacle will likely smash records.
‘It will certainly be the most observed total eclipse in history,’ astronomer Rick Fienberg of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) said last week.
The eclipse begins its cross-country trajectory over the Pacific Coast of Oregon in late morning. It will reach South Carolina’s Atlantic shore some 90 minutes later.
The total eclipse of the sun is considered one of the most spell-binding phenomena in nature but it rarely occurs over a wide swath of land, let alone one of the world’s most heavily populated countries at the height of summer.
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is warning drivers that the Monday celestial event could cause some of the worst traffic jams in the state’s history.
Authorities are worried about the traffic impact that the eclipse will have on small towns that are not equip to be flooded with people.
Don Hamilton with ODOT said ‘there may be a million people who descend on the state for the eclipse, especially in the 60-mile path of totality that spans the state from west to east,’ KRON reported.
