AFP/Tampa


Workers set up the stage ahead of the Republican National Convention at Tampa Bay Times Forum yesterday. Area residents are preparing for Tropical Storm Isaac just before the convention which will be held tomorrow
Florida declared a state of emergency yesterday as the US state braces for Tropical Storm Isaac just two days before the opening of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Governor Rick Scott said the executive order was a “normal step” in preparing for such a storm, adding that the Tampa airport remained open and urging those attending the convention not to cancel their reservations.
“Florida’s emergency responders are ready. And it’s important that Florida’s residents and visitors stay informed, have a plan and make preparations,” he said at a press conference.
He emphasised, however, that the storm was not expected to disrupt the political proceedings in Tampa, which is north of where forecasters say the full brunt of the storm will be felt.
“We are going to have a great convention!” the governor added.
Tropical Storm Isaac barrelled across Haiti early yesterday, killing at least one person, a young girl, and raising fears of mud slides and flash floods in the impoverished country still rebuilding after a 2010 earthquake.
An eight-year-old Haitian girl died when a wall collapsed at her home, a government official, Gonzague Day, said. She is the first known death related to the storm.
Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere even before the earthquake killed 250,000 people, and some 400,000 are still living in tent camps in and around the devastated capital Port-au-Prince.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Isaac will likely become a hurricane today and was on track to clip the southern part of the Florida before churning north to the southern US Gulf coast.
The storm could bring high winds and heavy rains to Tampa as an estimated 50,000 people - including top officials - gather for the convention, which begins tomorrow.
The gathering will include speeches, parties and pageantry, culminating in former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney formally accepting his party’s nomination and laying out his case for denying President Barack Obama a second term during a prime-time address on Thursday.