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Spring City prepares to welcome thousands of visitors

T-shirts are every where, glasses are nearly sold out, and traffic is picking up, all signs it's almost time for the total solar eclipse.

T-shirts are every where, glasses are nearly sold out, and traffic is picking up, all signs it's almost time for the total solar eclipse.

The long awaited Great American Total Solar Eclipse is less than 24 hours away, and some city's in Tennessee are the perfect location to watch.

One of those cities is Spring City, which sits directly in the path of totality, a prime spot for folks wanting to get the full solar eclipse experience, according to WRCB.

T-shirts are every where, glasses are nearly sold out, and traffic is picking up, all signs it's almost time for the total solar eclipse.

The town is expecting tens of thousands of visitors.

"We are selling shirts, and water, and drinks for the eclipse!" said Spring City resident, Sarah Smith.

City officials are preparing to welcome in the tens of thousands of visitors.

"We're just trying to brace ourselves for what we think is going to be a huge crowd of people," said Mayor Billy Patton.

Hotel rooms in the city were booked up in January.

"Spring City's a tiny little place on the map," Smith said, "Knowing it's going to quadruple in size is ridiculous!"

And preparing for those visitors isn't all that easy.

"We have no way to really prepare like we probably need to because we don't have anything to compare this event to," Patton explained.

Patton said the city has been doing what it can to prepare for about 6 months.

He said police will be out in full force, monitoring the events and directing traffic.

City officials also called in some extra help.

"Our entire police force will be working," said Patton, "We've also called in homeland security for crowd control."

Even though it will be a much busier town for a few days, many are welcoming the visitors.

"It's exciting," Smith said, "I mean, sounds like we're going to meet people from all over the world! So, it'll be really exciting."

With the influx of visitors drivers are asked not to park on the side of the highways.

"Be patient," urged Patton, "Cause we're small but we're proud."

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