TS/Hurricane Isaac Poses Threat to Tampa and Republican National Convention

Tropical Storm Isaac, which is expected to become Hurricane Isaac, has an interesting political twist.  With finance being such a crucial portion of the opposite sides this year, that makes for a fiscal angle to this hurricane outside of financial damage from this storm.

The Republican National Convention is set to take place in Tampa, Florida next week.  The current path of Tropical Storm Isaac has the storm turning into a hurricane by Friday morning just before making landfall in the Dominican Republic and then in Haiti, then becoming a tropical storm again before it goes right over the entire eastern half of Cuba on Saturday and Sunday,  Then the projection has the storm going over the Florida Keys southwest of Miami and starting to go right up the western coast of Florida starting early Monday morning.

In short, if Isaac follows the center-point of the projected path shown by the National Hurricane Center then the storm is a direct threat to Tampa next week.  It is worth noting that the hurricane and tropical storm paths so far in this 2012 hurricane season have not been very accurate this many days out.

CNN reported this morning that Mayor Bob Buckhorn in Tampa is preparing for the GOP convention and for the storm.  The figure thrown out is that the convention is expected to bring in $153 million for the city as some 50,000 people are expected to travel there.

JON C. OGG