Water? Gas? Food Supply? It’s An Eclipse, Not The End Of The World

The Utah Department of Transportation issued some dire warnings this week leading up to Saturday's annular eclipse of the sun.

"Please plan ahead for traffic around the eclipse on Saturday, Oct. 14. We’re expecting more than 300,000 visitors to central and southern Utah," was the first warning.

OK, that's cool. There's going to be heavy traffic, especially in the areas south of Utah County and north of Iron County.

Considering there's always heavy traffic in Utah, Salt Lake and Davis Counties, most folks are unfazed by the warning. We can handle a little extra traffic.

The next warning was more ominous: "Heaviest traffic is expected in Richfield and Mexican Hat areas. Prepare for delays on I-15, I-70, US-89 and US-191."

A little more to worry about, but still not a huge deal, right?

The next one came and it appeared things were starting to get serious. "Two universities and 23 school districts across Utah are also on Fall break. Please plan ahead if you're traveling through the path of the eclipse."

Hmmm, maybe this trip I had planned wasn't actually the best idea in the world.

And then came this advice from UDOT: "We encourage eclipse watchers to stay an extra day if possible to avoid what our traffic engineers expect to be several hours of delays directly after the eclipse."

Wow, now I'm starting to get worried. After settling down for a bit, UDOT came with the hammer: "Be prepared with supplies like food, water and gas. Local resources may be limited before and after the event."

UDOT did send out this map of the best places to see the near total-eclipse of the sun.

Of course, now I don't know if I really want to go.

For more info, check out the UDOT traffic app or go to udottraffic.utah.gov.