Photo : Collected
US communities along the path of the April 8 total solar eclipse are preparing for the year's biggest astronomic event, with millions of visitors expected to brighten local economies -- and snarl up logistics.
Near the US-Canada border in Burlington, Vermont, which is set to experience the totality just before 3:30 pm (1930 GMT), many hotels have been sold out for months.
The few remaining rooms, which typically go for around $150 a night, show online prices of $600-$700 for the night of the eclipse.
"I don't know that we'll have anything quite like this again," Jeff Lawson, a vice president in the chamber of commerce, told AFP.
Lawson marveled at his city's "incredible luck" at an opportunity "quite literally falling out of the sky into your lap."
If skies are clear, the small city of 40,000 could see its population double for the day, with visitors arriving by car, train and even private jet, Lawson said.
An estimated 32 million people live inside the "path of totality" -- under which the Moon will fully block out the Sun -- with an additional 150 million residing less than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the strip, NASA says.
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