BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio — With the total solar eclipse coming on Monday, droves of people will be heading to areas of Ohio to witness this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.
But with so many people coming to the state, many hotels have filled to capacity, which in turn is forcing out people who have been relying on those hotels after their homes were destroyed in last month's tornadoes.
Paula Gambrel has been staying at a hotel in Bellefontaine for the last week.
She lost her home after an EF3 tornado hit the Indian Lake community three weeks ago.
“We started hearing wind, hail hitting the windows, then the next thing I know my windows were breaking,” said Gambrel.
Gambrel moved into a hotel with her two kids. But now she’s being forced to move again.
“Now they are kicking everyone out because of the solar eclipse,” said Gambrel. “They said it was already booked up since last year so we were all going to have to get out of there.”
Gambrel said she was shocked to find out the eclipse was affecting her living situation.
“I was surprised because where else are we supposed to go because we don’t have a home? My home is gone,” she said.
Gambrel said she doesn’t think it's fair that the visitors for the eclipse are getting priority over her.
“I’m not happy about it because all of the people coming from out of town up here and taking the hotel rooms from the homeless,” said Gambrel.
A manager from the hotel said rooms were booked over a year ago for the eclipse, but they are working to accommodate all of the tornado victims.
There are also other organizations who want to help those in need of a temporary place to live.
Shelley Harmon, with Peak of Hope Shelter, said they have a rapid rehousing program that can help anyone in need.
“We can help people with deposits, short-term rental assistance for them to get established,” said Harmon.