By Rick Pfeiffer
Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
NIAGARA COUNTY, N.Y. — Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti said he would rather have been over-prepared than under-prepared for Monday’s total eclipse of the sun.
With a thick cloud cover hovering over most of the Niagara Region, and dampening the size of the crowds flocking to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event, law enforcement agencies and emergency preparedness officials said they had no trouble managing the eclipse experience.
“It was fairly uneventful,” said Niagara County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Schultz. “There were no major issues.”
In the run-up to the eclipse, city mayors, town supervisors and other government officials from across Niagara County, along with first responders and law enforcement agencies from the federal to local level engaged in countless hours of preparation to handle what they said could be anywhere from hundreds of thousands to a million visitors to the region.
“We prepared for a large attendance and this was a really good experience for all our agencies to work together to plan for a major event and to test our communication capabilities,” Filicetti said. “I think everything went very well, there were a lot of moving pieces and everything worked seamlessly. If we had larger numbers, we would have been prepared.”
Planners had been largely concerned with the movement of crowds of spectators looking for the best eclipse views. But serious transportation bottlenecks never developed.
Schultz said it appeared that parking lots at local hotels were less crowded on Monday than they had been over the weekend. Law enforcement agencies said local hoteliers said many visitors began checking out as early as 4 a.m. Monday when the weather forecast indicated the skies would be cloudy.
Falls police said they experienced no significant traffic issues in the city. Mayor Robert Restaino praised the inter-agency cooperation.
“I give (county, state and federal law enforcement) a lot of credit for (providing support) to allow us to police the city,” the mayor said. “This might be a blueprint for what we do on other busy weekends.”
Despite the limited visibility of the eclipse, the mayor said the experience was positive for the Falls.
“It was a little cloudy, but we did have a few breaks and when it got dark, that was impressive all on its own. I think people enjoyed it,” Restaino said. “The media attention has been unlike anything we’ve ever had happen.”
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