@Xsuxa said in #8:
> It is peculiar how so many states in the path of the eclipse have created a "state of emergency" anticipating major problems. Very strange.
Oh, for crying out loud, it's a total solar eclipse. Not the end of the world. Please forgive my apparent lack of patience.
The new moon fully occludes the sun for a few minutes (within the path of totality, a strip of land that's only a few miles wide and is occluded by the moon's shadow during the eclipse).
What is all the fuss about then?
This eclipse is special in that the path of totality crosses some heavily populated areas (most solar eclipses happen somewhere in the world's oceans because they constitute about 70% of our planet's surface). Total solar eclipses are very impressive, but utterly harmless; unless you're unwise enough to look at the sun without proper eye protection, i.e. certified eclipse glasses.
Because they are so impressive and because of the recent short succession of total solar eclipses in the United States – and of course because of the advent of the internet and mass-promulgation of portable cameras (smartphones) – the two recent total solar eclipses in the US (on August 21, 2017 and October 14, 2023) have been among the most photographed astronomical events in history.
With each such event in the information age, awareness of its awesomeness increases, making it desirable for more and more people to see one with their own eyes. Especially since the next good chance to see one in the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) will be on August 12, 2045, 21 years from now. For many people this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Or at least once in the rest of their lives.
As such a lot of visitors are expected in the path of totality. And as a civil defense effort affected counties (those within the path of totality) warn of potential problems that might arise with such an influx of visitors. Where there are large gatherings of people, supply shortages can arise. An event like the last eclipse in 21 years might also mean that a significant number of elderly people (aged 60 and above) are among the visitors and age increases your risk of health issues (like cardiac arrest, etc.) which are especially likely in times of great excitement and in case of dehydration.
So hospitals in the area might not only need to service way more people than they're used to (visitors effectively doubling or tripling the population), they might also need to attend to an older demographic. So it's good to be aware and prepared. That's what good civil defense is for. Anticipating potential dangers before they arise and mitigating them by being adequately prepared.
It doesn't mean that anything remotely catastrophic will happen. It means that hardworking people are cautiously and diligently doing their job, as they always do. The same happens (albeit to a smaller and more localised extent) prior to other foreseeable mass gathering events (like a Taylor Swift concert).
Further reading:
www.factcheck.org/2024/03/posts-make-ominous-unfounded-claims-about-april-8-eclipse-preparations/Why are (total) solar eclipses so rare if there's a new moon more than once a month (on average)? This two minute video explains it quite well:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIZyuXl-91U 
