One Texas town hopes being in the path of Monday’s total solar eclipse will propel tourists and residents to see the community in an entirely different light after it was the site of one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings.
Uvalde — whose 15,000 residents are still reeling from the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two adults dead — expects nearly seven times as many visitors for Monday’s eclipse, the Daily Mail first reported Saturday.
The eclipse will send the region into darkness for four minutes and 18 seconds, according to NASA’s tracker.
“We anticipate somewhere between 50,000 to 75,000 visitors to attend throughout the county,” John Yeakle, director of tourism for the Uvalde Area Chamber of Commerce, told The Post Saturday.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to host the many visitors from all over the world to our wonderful community. We hope to showcase the natural beauty of our location, as well as the warm, friendly diversity of Uvalde.”
The expected tsunami of visitors to experience Monday’s 115-mile-wide path of totality in Uvalde comes less than two years after Salvador Ramos, 18, stormed into a fourth-grade classroom and opened fire — killing 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022.
“We are and have always been far more than simply an unfortunate victim of school violence,” Yeackle said.
The “tragedy was horrific and hearts go out to the families that were most directly affected,” he told the Daily Mail. “Everybody that lives here in Uvalde is probably no more than one degree of separation from someone that was there that day. And I’m no different.”
Uvalde should be seen by outsiders as a “gateway” to southwest Texas rather than the site of one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings, Yeackle added.
“We’re not interested in inviting more people,” he told the outlet. “We’re concerned with dealing with those already planning to come.”
Yeackle estimated two-thirds of visitors will be driving from elsewhere in Texas, including Houston, San Antonio and Austin.
“We have maybe 4 million people within 200 miles of us,” the tourism director told the Mail of the expected traffic gridlock. “There will be hours and hours of delays on the two major arteries.”
Uvalde County, meanwhile, is a “prime location” to view astronomical events like total solar eclipses due to expansive areas devoid of light pollution, officials said.
“The Great State of Texas is considered to be one of the best states for viewing due to favorable weather and is predicted to have the highest visitation along the whole path,” a Uvalde County Visitors Center website reads.
“Come and enjoy our nature, wildlife and rivers while experiencing one of nature’s greatest celestial shows.”
Ramos, who was killed by authorities responding to the school, had complained about being bullied while in fourth grade at Robb Elementary School just weeks prior to the shooting, investigators later determined.
Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez, who was on vacation during the bloodbath, resigned his post last month after a city-commissioned report defended the agency’s response — which a scathing Department of Justice report found “demonstrated no urgency” — leaving some relatives of the 21 victims outraged.
Rodriguez’s resignation took effect on Saturday — and Uvalde Mayor Cody Smith abruptly stepped down Monday, citing “unexpected medical issues I have experienced in recent weeks,” he said, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Mayor Pro-Tem Everardo Zamora will step in until the November election.
