Dallas police and Dallas Fire-Rescue are working with other departments across the region as visitors start arriving this weekend for Monday's eclipse. The city will activate its emergency operations center.
"The Office of Emergency Management has been coordinating efforts between city, county, regional, and state partners to prepare for this event," Dallas Director of Emergency Management Travis Houston said. "Our focus has primarily been around how we're going to communicate with the public as well as what the impacts might be to public safety on that day."
City Council member Gay Donnell Willis said she and Houston have talked about the potential number of visitors. In 2017, she said the population of Nashville increased by 35% when an eclipse was visible there.
"If you want to translate that to Dallas, Texas, that's about 400,000 people coming to our city," she said. "What this means is people are going to be moving throughout our city."
Downtown Dallas Inc. said it will have "clean teams," security teams, homeless outreach, and ambassadors working to greet people and help them find their way around. The organization said almost all hotel rooms downtown are booked.
Visit Dallas said the city has a total of 35,000 hotel rooms, and most venues have limited availability. The organization has launched a website with a list of events.
Both organizations said many visitors are arriving now and will stay all weekend.
Dallas will activate its Emergency Operations Center at City Hall and a joint information center with police and fire departments from across the region.
Police Chief Eddie Garcia said the department planned to limit time off and have extra manpower working.
"Our priority is the safety of the people on our roadways and across our city for this event and those who may be calling for help at this time," he said.
Garcia said police will focus on "critical infrastructure" including the busiest interchanges. He said they will also be working to keep pathways to hospitals clear.
"You will see a visible Dallas Police Department presence on our roadways and across the city," he said. "We have been working with our city and law enforcement partners on traffic management."
Garcia and Dallas Fire-Rescue have been communicating with each other, other city departments, and neighboring cities. Dallas Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Scott Pacot said the department reviewed its staffing plans for a potential increase in calls for service.
"There are many events planned in the city," he said. "We do have dedicated emergency medical services to be there for treatment and response for our patrons who are attending those."
Garcia and Pacot have echoed TxDOT's call not to stop on roads to watch the eclipse. They said that would slow down traffic but could also block first responders trying to reach an emergency.
Garcia said that "visible presence" by police will work to prevent people from blocking access to hospitals or other critical services.
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