TAMPA, Fla.
Everyone expects some shakeups to arise at the Republican National Convention, but the biggest upsets may blow in not from political controversy but instead from Mother Nature.
For three straight simulations, NOAA’s Global Forecast System (GFS) model has tracked a tropical system right over the Florida peninsula through or close to Tampa just as the Republican National Convention is ramping up. Assuming this system—presently a little swirl in the open Atlantic—strengthens some, it will be named Isaac.
If this model is right, organizers say they’re ready for the possibility of Hurricane Isaac during the convention, according to a report from ABC News.
“The Republican National Convention, Secret Service and federal, state and local authorities have been planning for a multitude of hurricane scenarios for well over a year,” said Bryan Koon, Florida’s emergency management director.
Since 1852, the Tampa area been hit by 27 hurricanes, including six during the month of August, the ABC News report said. Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project has developed a tool that shows the historic probability of a named storm affecting the region around Tampa is 20 percent in any given season.
The most violent storm to ever hit Tampa sent 15 feet of water over land that is now home to the Tampa Bay Convention Center. The center will hold 15,000 media members next week. The Tampa Bay Times Forum, site of the convention itself, is in a mandatory evacuation zone once storms reach 96 mph, a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, according to the Hillsborough County Hurricane Guide.
Courtesy of The Washington Post and Bloomberg.com
