State Prepared As Crowds Of Thousands Expected In McCurtain Co. For Solar Eclipse

Hundreds of thousands from across the state and even the country are expected to come to Oklahoma to witness Monday afternoon’s solar eclipse.

Part of Oklahoma is in the path of totality. Tulsa is expecting about 95-percent totality. But the eclipse will be at 100-percent totality in the southeast corner of the state, including the town of Idabel.

That’s where we find News On 6 Meteorologist Alan Crone. He is live in Idabel Monday morning to talk about how the state is preparing for huge crowds.

Related Story: Live In Idabel: Meteorologist Alan Crone Shares Early Outlook For Eclipse

A big concern is crowd control, so several law enforcement agencies will be on standby to help with any safety issues.

The Oklahoma National Guard said they will be deployed to assist the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, specifically for any potential search and rescue situations where people get lost in the woods.

"What they’re doing in Idabel and the Broken Bow area during the eclipse this year, is to support the Highway Patrol. We think there is always the potential for search and rescue type missions down in southeastern Oklahoma and the woods down there. We’ve got 60 to 100,000 folks who are coming out there to observe the eclipse and that may be out in the woods that they're not familiar with in that part of the state. So this is really just a search and rescue support mission to the highway patrol," Colonel Shane Riley with the Oklahoma National Guard explained.