Tampa, Fla., Mayor Bob Buckhorn on Wednesday insisted he’s “really
not worried” about the potential for his city to be hit by Tropical Storm Isaac
when the Republican National Convention opens there on Monday.
But Buckhorn, appearing on CNN’s "Starting Point," said he
would have no problem delaying, canceling or moving the convention in a
worst-case scenario where a hurricane-strength storm hit the city.
“Obviously, public safety is going to trump politics. If we
had to make that decision to cancel or to postpone or to move the convention,
we will do that knowing full well that my obligation and the city's obligation
is to move people out of harm's way,” Buckhorn said. “The politics will take
care of itself.”
Tropical Storm Isaac formed Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean and is
expected to threaten the Caribbean beginning Thursday, potentially as a
hurricane. The National Hurricane Center says the west coast of Florida is within
the five-day “forecast cone” of uncertainty, though Isaac’s path remains highly
unpredictable.
“I'm not really worried about this one yet. You know, the
good thing about living in Florida is we're accustomed to this. This is our
reality every storm season,” Buckhorn said. “So we've trained for this.
Inevitably, it will happen at some point. But, you know, we're monitoring it,
we're watching it, we're tracking it. I think we're going to be OK, but we'll
be prepared in the event that it heads this way.”
Buckhorn, a Democrat, noted that Tampa gets “heavy rains almost every
afternoon.”
City officials “hope [Isaac] moves further away from us, but
if it doesn’t, it’s still going to be a great convention.”
Right now, convention organizers have the benefit of time in
preparing for contingencies should the storm strengthen into a hurricane and
point toward Florida.
“That's the good thing about hurricanes ... that you have plenty of time to prepare,” he told CNN host Soledad O’Brien.
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