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Florida emergency services brace for Isaac

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    Could Tampa pull plug on Republican National Convention?

  • Duration 3:01
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And we have paid a Fox -- weather alert now the National Weather Service just issued a new alert on tropical storm -- -- which is gaining strength in the Caribbean right now.

A hurricane warning is in effect for parts of the Dominican Republican and Haiti.

But of course all eyes are on Tampa which is preparing for 50000.

People to arrive for the Republican.

Convention there and now for the possibility of -- hitting the city at hurricane strength.

Steve trades is the communications manager for Orange County joins me live now on the phone.

Steve first of all even if it doesn't hit hurricane strength we're still talking about tropical storm with.

Which -- produce high winds and flooding so what do you guys doing to prepare for in the event of an evacuation folks in Florida know what to do which got 50000 out of towners.

-- teach them what to do -- a few days.

That's that's quite a huge challenge because so they'd have to be coming up the I four corridor has you well know into the Orlando area the good news is we do have 440000.

Hotel rooms here.

Although many of those are filled at the moment -- -- a huge Star Wars convention in town this week.

But that would be our challenge what we're doing here in Orange County right now is just preparing we're doing our 120 our checklist.

And that involves a lot of -- checked into drainage wells hot spot that we know about.

We've got about 35000 sandbags ready if needed but how -- all these people coming up the four -- that would be attacked the.

The challenge that's a big challenge because I didn't realize that you've got your hotels they're almost at capacity with the convention and sound we've got people -- heading that way so.

-- and -- hiring gonna handle that I'm sure you try to figure out contingency plan for that let's talk about this though right now Steve timing.

They what -- the criticisms of that Hurricane Katrina was that the mayor at the time took too long to pull the trick here.

In terms of getting people lot of the city.

When will you be prepared to or -- team be prepared to say guess what Republicans I'm sorry but we can't do this convention here in Tampa.

That would be a call for the mayor of Tampa to make our mayor of Orange -- Teresa Jacobs should be more on the receiving end the folks who are leading the Tampa area to come up here to Orlando.

Probably to shelter.

The good news is that this is on our first rodeo we had -- back to back hurricane since 2004.

And they're quite familiar with how to deal with those so many of the members of the team that were on board -- are still -- -- -- And Steve finally before I let you go you mentioned the folks coming down to -- up.

Would you would there be a situation where you would just Wear them off and say turn around -- don't even -- this way.

-- -- -- Sheltering county traditionally -- -- on the coast and were more inland we would be sheltering county for any storm that would get Tampa Bay and or coming in off the East Coast.

Through like say the Kennedy Space Center area.

So we're familiar with that we know how to do it so we have to open shelters we have many schools that we work with that we can do that here the major university Central Florida is here.

So we have options but let's hope it doesn't -- -- will all keep our fingers crossed -- thank you very much free time this morning.

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