WACO, Texas — City officials are warning residents to get cash out of the ATM now, so you'll have it in case the ATMs go down.
Getting money out of the ATM might be a challenge during the eclipse especially for rural communities like Lampasas County.
"We have cell phone service drop out of nowhere sometimes and nobody can get service which affects everything from computers to credit cards and ATMs. That’s why we’re afraid of this issue during the eclipse," said Ross Oliver with Lampasas County Chamber of Commerce.
They’re advising visitors to carry cash and reminding businesses to ask banks for a cash order now.
“When the cell phone service is taxed it could get spotty which would affect ATMs and they won’t know what’s in your account and so those are the major hiccups we’re expecting," Oliver said.
It could be everything from ATMs to gas pumps to all credit card machines in local businesses that lose service.
Lampasas isn’t the only ones preparing for ATM outages.
The city of Hewitt posted a warning on their website to get cash out.
"It’s always good to have cash on hand because credit card machines can break. We just don’t know," Devlin said.
Jim Devlin says that would be the worst-case scenario because they’re not sure how many people will be using cell phone towers.
“It’s more of a reminder for our citizens to be prepared for worst place scenario," he said.
As for Lampasas, they are hoping for the best, but preparing for any problems that might arise.
“Fill up with gas, get your prescriptions filled, and have cash," Oliver said.
