As the date inches closer to the total solar eclipse on April 8, Texas towns are bracing for a tourism boom. Kerrville, Texas, in particular, is predicted to draw nearly 500,000 eclipse chasers, with total visitor numbers for the Texas State potentially exceeding a million. This cosmic spectacle heralded as the most significant astronomical event in decades, is set to draw sky-watchers from across the nation, with estimates of up to 3.7 million Americans traveling to witness the event, according to KXAN.
The eclipse's path of totality—the corridor where the moon will completely cover the sun—will cross through several states, but Texas is expected to outshine them all. Texas cities like Dallas and Austin are directly in the path, but it's Kerrville, a smaller city with clear skies and a longer duration of totality, that's predicted to steal the spotlight. "Texas is going to be an epicenter for this eclipse," Michael Zeiler, an eclipse cartographer, as per Chron.
While the eclipse promises to be a feast for the eyes, it threatens to be a frenzy on the roads. Traffic is expected to swell significantly, especially from areas just outside of the totality path, like San Antonio and Houston. "There’s a whole list of metropolises that are less than 100 miles from the eclipse path. So they'll experience major traffic on eclipse day," Zeiler said in a statement obtained by KXAN.
