TAMPA, Fla. — As Arkansas braces for Isaac, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, headed home Thursday so that he could be on hand should the storm cause serious flooding or other damage.
“I think my district is right in the eye of it,” Griffin said as he rolled his suitcase across the hotel lobby floor.
Griffin had been planning to be at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday night to hear Mitt Romney accept the Republican Party nomination for president.
Instead, he left the Hilton Garden Inn Thursday morning to head to the airport and eventually home.
“I want to be on the ground in the very unlikely chance of an emergency. If we need to have a disaster declaration,” he said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Weather forecasts and other reports that Griffin has seen indicate that it is very unlikely that an emergency will occur but Griffin is erring on the side of caution. He did not want to try to risk the possibility of being unable to fly into Little Rock on Friday as planned.
“I’ll watch his (Romney’s) speech on TV,” Griffin said.
The storm, which dumped nearly a foot of rain on New Orleans on Wednesday, was heading northward toward Arkansas.
Although it has weakened, the storm remains a dangerous threat. Torrential rains could cause inland flooding and there is also the potential for tornadoes.
Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, who skipped the convention to remain in Arkansas to assist farmers seeking federal help from the drought, issued a statement Thursday urging Arkansans to prepare for Isaac.
“With rains from Hurricane Isaac now reaching Arkansas, we must prepare for potential flooding and flash flooding situations,” he said.