Eclipse visitors stream into Vesturbyggð

Large numbers of visitors have arrived in Vesturbyggð, a municipality expected to offer excellent conditions for viewing this afternoon’s total solar eclipse, mbl.is reports. The eclipse will be the first total solar eclipse since 1954.

“This will be fun. I am very excited about it and did not expect to become this excited about a total eclipse,” Mayor Gerður Björk Sveinsdóttir said.

Gerður said traffic figures and activity at campsites indicated a sharp increase in the number of people in the municipality. Residents were also hosting visitors in their homes, while people were continuing to arrive in the area around Látrabjarg.

The influx has created considerable work for the small municipality. Gerður said preparations by authorities had initially been slow, but that she was pleased with them once they began.

“I have lost count of all the eclipse meetings I have attended and how many groups I am part of because of the planning,” she said. The municipality has been in contact with residents, civil protection authorities, ministries, the Westfjords Marketing Office and tourism operators, among others.

Gerður said there had initially been some misunderstanding about the municipality’s role.

“I felt that people thought we were organising an event that we would be responsible for. But we simply needed to be prepared, even though we could not know how many people would arrive or where the best weather would be in the country,” she said.

The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration has graded all roads in the area, according to Gerður, while Orkubú Vestfjarða has added charging stations at Tálknafjörður, Patreksfjörður and Króksfjarðarnes.

Vesturbyggð has nine campsites, three of which are operated by the municipality, in Patreksfjörður, Tálknafjörður and Bíldudalur. The municipality has set aside additional space for tents and added toilets. Community halls will also be opened to provide facilities for visitors.

Local food businesses are preparing for large crowds by simplifying their menus so they can serve customers quickly. Gerður said they could end up selling meals to more people than their seating capacity allows.

When mbl.is spoke to Gerður on Tuesday, the weather forecast for the municipality was excellent, although not quite as good as the weather seen in the southern Westfjords in recent days.

She plans to watch the eclipse from her own garden.

“I am expecting to be in my garden at home. I am fortunate enough to live almost by the shoreline, and it will surely be wonderful there,” she said.