Burnet County eclipse town hall Feb. 22
Burnet city and county leaders are teaming up for a town hall about the April 8 total solar eclipse that is expected to bring a massive influx of visitors to the Highland Lakes. The informational event is Thursday, Feb. 22, in the Burnet Community Center, 401 E. Jackson St. Identical presentations will be given at 9 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. that day. Admission is free.
“Gather with others in the community and learn the planning the city and county have underway for the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse,” reads a media release from the city of Burnet.
Representatives from the Burnet police and fire departments, the county’s Emergency Management and Tourism and Marketing offices, and the local AgriLife Extension Office will brief residents and business owners on logistics, public safety, and preparedness during the celestial event.
Burnet County lies directly in the path of the coming eclipse, which makes it a prime location for visitors from the Austin metropolitan area and the throngs of tourists that typically seek out solar eclipses.
Burnet has been planning for the event for months. The Chamber of Commerce brought in eclipse expert and Hill Country Alliance Night Sky coordinator Dawn Davies for a presentation in February 2023 to communicate the potential magnitude of the event.
“Nothing like this, on this scale, cutting across a major swathe of our state, is going to happen again for hundreds of years,” she said during her initial presentation. “I have looked out as far as the year 3000, and I have not found an eclipse that cuts through Texas this significantly.”
Davies said the town of Madras, Oregon, exploded from a population of 7,500 to over 100,000 during the 2017 total solar eclipse, purely due to eclipse tourism.
“I understand these numbers are a bit shocking, but this is the reality of it,” she said.