Tampa, U.S.A. — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Republican National Convention CEO William Harris made the following statements regarding convention planning:

“The Republican National Convention and the Republican National Committee, working in consultation with the Romney/Ryan campaign, are in regular contact with the National Weather Service, Governor Scott and local emergency officials in an effort to track and understand the potential impact of the storm. Governor Scott and local emergency officials have assured us that they have the resources in place to respond to this storm should it make landfall, as our primary concern is with those in the potential path of the storm.

We will continue to work closely with them and federal officials to monitor the storm and discuss any impact it might have on the Tampa area and the state of Florida. We continue to move forward with our planning and look forward to a successful convention.” – Bill Harris, President and CEO of the Republican National Convention

“We are just days away from the Republican National Convention where we will officially nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as the ticket who will get America working again. The Republican Party is ready for the mission ahead: sending America’s Comeback Team to Washington to rein in federal spending and put Americans back to work.

While President Obama is out of ideas, we have candidates for president and vice president who are uniquely qualified to answer the challenges of our time, and we look forward to helping them get elected in November.” – Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee

About the 2012 Republican National Convention

The 2012 Republican National Convention will be held at the Tampa Bay Times Forum August 27-30, 2012. Nearly 50,000 visitors are expected to come to the Tampa Bay area for the event, including delegates, alternate delegates, media and other guests.

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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Tropical Storm Debby has been slowly creeping its way across Florida, heading northeast. The storm began in the Gulf of Mexico and was projected to go to Texas, Alabama, and Florida on different occasions. On the morning of June 25 the storm was about seventy-five miles south of the Panhandle city of Apalachicola moving at a speed of three miles per hour northeast.

The tropical storm, a step below a category one hurricane, maintained forty-five miles per hour winds and has threatened some parts of Florida with ten to twenty-five inches of rain. Many low-lying areas in Northern Florida are expected to flood and many residents have been warned to evacuate these areas.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management issued a statement saying, “Debby is currently stationary, and no significant motion is expected through the next day or so as a weak steering flow remains in the region…All of the Florida Panhandle near and west of the Suwannee River is in the three-day error cone.” Debby is expected to move between Destin and Tampa within the next three to five days.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management also reported on the effects of the hurricane. “Tropical storm force winds, heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes are the main concerns today…rainfall amounts of five plus inches today and tonight may lead to continued flooding for many areas of the state. In addition, locally heavy rainfall of potentially up to ten to twenty inches through the next few days will continue to exacerbate flooding concerns of some areas.” The governor, Rick Scott, has declared a statewide emergency.

Most of the damage so far has been in the western regions of Florida. Some streets in Tampa are underwater and the Howard Franklin bridge that connects Tampa and St. Petersburg was closed due to high winds and water. St. George Island was hit the hardest losing electricity and having its bridge to the mainland closed. Thirty-five thousand homes and businesses were without power after the storm ravaged Florida the night of June 24. Several Florida counties were put on the tornado watch list including Pinellas and Orange (St. Petersburg and Orlando).

Twenty-three percent of oil and gas production has been suspended and the employees have been evacuated from sixty-one production platforms and thirteen drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

One person was killed by a tornado the tropical storm caused in Florida. The other casualty of this storm was a South Carolinian man who disappeared in rough seas on June 24 in Alabama.

Some Floridians see the tropical storm as nothing to worry about, after surviving the year of Charlie, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan, this storm is incomparable. Patrick Sparks, twenty-six, a manager at Eddy Teach’s bar, stated, “the tourists cleared out. It’s not a good thing and hurts the economy during a week in peak season. It’s a tropical storm – it’s not even a category one. It’s a little rash to send everyone home.”

Hurricane season began June 1 and will last until November 30. So far Debby is the fourth named storm that has occurred this year.

Image Courtesy of  NASA Goddard Photo and Video

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4.5 Million Without Power.. Stock Exchange Will Open Monday.. NYC Transit Has Long Road To Recovery.. MTA Restores Limited Bus Service..National Grid Crew ‘Working Very Hard’ To Restore Power.

She has already gained a reputation as the greatest menace since 2008 and as she hits the city of New York, she manages to live up to expectations: The streets were empty Sunday morning as Hurricane Irene prepared to drive rain and high speed winds through America’s most populous city.

Fox News reported that there were no hurricane-force winds over land anymore but that the storm is still considered “a low-end hurricane, high-end tropical storm.” Shoppers have emptied local food and hardware stores for supplies in preparation, says Reuters.

Tom Corbert, governor of Pennsylvania warned that the storm isn’t just a 24-hour event and that precaution had to be made even after the storm has passed. The governor of North Carolina, Beverly Perdue told reporters that Irene inflicted significant damages along her state’s coast and that some areas were still unreachable. Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia declared a state of emergency, which is the first time since 1986. “We are trying to save lives and don’t have time for silliness,” he said.

In New York, the authorities led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg took on the task of shutting down the busy city and attempt some damage control. Residents were urged to stay indoors to avoid flying debris, flooding or the risk of electrocution by downed power lines, according to Reuter’s report. Broadway shows were cancelled, sporting events postponed, shops closed and the major airports in the New York area — LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark — made sure the last arriving flights were done by noon on Saturday. Fox News said that 9,000 flight were canceled, including 3,000 on Saturday. In addition, airline companies estimate that the number of affected passengers could easily be millions because so many flight connections are made on the East Coast.

Nine people have lost their lives so far as a result of Irene, including two children. In Virginia, an 11-year-old boy was killed when a tree crashed through his roof and in North Carolina, a child died in a car crash as a result of a failing traffic light. Four other people have been killed by falling trees or tree limbs while a surfer and a beachgoer were killed by heavy waves in Florida.

President Obama cut his vacation short at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts in order to follow the preparations for the hurricane closely from the White House.

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