'It's going to be crazy': Niagara Falls mayor says city preparing for up to 1 million visitors for solar eclipse

The mayor of Niagara Falls says the city expects to attract the biggest crowd in its history on April 8 when upwards of a million visitors show up to watch the full solar eclipse.

The mayor of Niagara Falls says the city expects to attract the biggest crowd in its history on April 8 when upwards of a million visitors show up to watch the full solar eclipse.

Mayor Jim Diodati said the city has been buzzing with excitement ever since National Geographic declared Niagara Falls the best place in the world to view the celestial event.

“It’s going to be crazy… We are trying to prepare for the biggest event in the history of the city by far.”

“The biggest crowd we’ve ever had was 12 years ago with Nik Wallenda going across the falls. That day we had upwards of 150,000 people.”

He said some have estimated that the crowd for the eclipse will be eight or nine times that size.

“We are not really sure what to prepare for. We’ve got plan A,B,C,D and E. So whether the crowds are massive or not as big, road closures and all other plans depend on how the crowds are when they get here,” Diodati said.

“That day the weather, of course, will have a big impact on how many people arrive because we are within a days’ drive of half the population of North America. A lot of people can come here in a short period of time.”