You may have seen a social media post going around saying that ISP is estimating the drive time from Boise to Weiser to be 10.5 hours the day of the solar eclipse. We reached out to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management to find out the truth.
"We contacted ISP and they have not put out any kind of estimations about how long you will wait in traffic, although it is universally accepted that you are going to be delayed wherever you are going," said Elizabeth Duncan with the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.
There is other information out there like power blackouts due to the volume of people that simply are not true.
"Idaho Falls Power and Idaho Power have both confirmed that they will likely not have any sort of strain on their system that would cause outages," explained Duncan.
As for cell phone towers being overloaded, Duncan said that isn't necessarily an inaccurate rumor.
"It's actually pretty accurate that you may have challenges using your cellphone in some areas," said Duncan.
Calling may be tricky at times, but texting will be easier. If you have to make an emergency call, delays are possible.
As for stores running out of food, Duncan said while that has happened in parts of Eastern Idaho, they are quickly getting the shelves restocked but regardless you should be prepared.
"Make sure that you have a gallon of water per person in your car and for your pet as well. Make sure you have snacks. There is nothing worse than getting stuck in 2-3 hour traffic and you don't have adequate water or you get low blood sugar," said Duncan.
Last but not least are gas stations going to be running out of gas?
Some areas already are. Duncan said it's incredibly important to have a full tank. You may be in your car for extended periods of time and gas stations are few and far between.
