Local

Isaac delays RNC

TAMPA, FLA. — Tropical Storm Isaac has shaken up plans for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

As a wave of Republicans arrive, it’s the storm off the coast that’s grabbing all the attention. Officials decided to push back Monday’s events to Tuesday.

After a 10 minute call to order, the convention will recess until Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. North Carolina delegate Wayne King made the trip to Tampa.

He’s disappointed to hear the convention has been condensed from four days to three.

“It certainly is a challenge to push everything from four days into three,” said King, who is representing Gaston County at the convention. “However, back in 2008, in Minneapolis, we did the same thing. Hurricane Gustav went up through Louisiana and it put us off a day in Minneapolis.”

Some events for the RNC will take place at the convention center, but the prime time focus will be a block away, at the forum.

Both sit along Tampa’s bayfront, where police and the secret service are not only preparing for a convention, but also Isaac.

They’re preparing to face the high wind and the threat of flooding.

Inside the arena, on the convention floor, RNC Chairman Reince Preibus told Eyewitness News that he helped make the decision to push back the start of the convention after talking to Emergency Services.

“I’m not sure about the buses coming over those long bridges, the water, the wind gusts and how safe it is,” Preibus said.

The RNC show will go on, but with some adjustments.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was supposed to speak in prime time on Monday night.

A revised schedule now has Haley speaking Tuesday night, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.