How The State Is Preparing For Thousands Of Visitors To The View The Eclipse On Monday

A total solar eclipse will be visible in four Oklahoma counties on Monday, April 8, and Travel Oklahoma expects thousands of visitors.

State Tourism Secretary Shelley Zumwalt joined News 9 to share how the state prepares for an influx of tourists.

Zumwalt said they expect around 60,000 people to come through the state and are estimating more than $7 million per day from tourists.

"We work with a lot of different agencies, including Department of Public Safety, and kind of looking at the average attendance,  in our high season down there anyway, and really extrapolated it from some of the data that we have," Zumwalt said.

She said that people should be prepared with a paper map, to expect traffic and the potential loss of cell service due to the influx of visitors.

Viewers should also keep their eclipse glasses on hand to properly view the eclipse.

They are preparing for the event with merchandise with the theme: "Total Eclipse of the Park."

The state tourism department has also released a new beer with Stonecloud Brewing called Bonding with Bigfoot.

Zumwalt says this beer is the kind of drink you want to have while out on the lake.

For more information on viewing the solar eclipse in Oklahoma, CLICK HERE.