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Mitt Romney tours Louisiana town hit by Hurricane Isaac | Mitt Romney tours Louisiana town hit by Hurricane Isaac |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Mitt Romney is visiting an emergency centre and touring hurricane-damaged Louisiana, a day after accepting the Republican nomination for US president. | Mitt Romney is visiting an emergency centre and touring hurricane-damaged Louisiana, a day after accepting the Republican nomination for US president. |
Mr Romney attended a Friday rally with running-mate Paul Ryan in Florida before cancelling a campaign stop in Virginia and diverting to the South. | Mr Romney attended a Friday rally with running-mate Paul Ryan in Florida before cancelling a campaign stop in Virginia and diverting to the South. |
Hurricane Isaac caused heavy flooding in areas around New Orleans and damage across the Gulf coast. | Hurricane Isaac caused heavy flooding in areas around New Orleans and damage across the Gulf coast. |
Mr Romney will challenge President Barack Obama in November's election. | Mr Romney will challenge President Barack Obama in November's election. |
Mr Obama is due to visit Louisiana and tour affected areas on Monday, a US national holiday. | |
On Friday, the president addressed US troops stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, on the second anniversary of the end of combat operations in Iraq. | |
Republican convention video
| Republican convention video
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At least six deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi have been attributed to Isaac, which brought up to 16in (41cm) of rain in some areas. | |
"We're thrilled that Governor Romney is coming today. We're thrilled that President Obama is coming on Monday," Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on Friday. "We welcome them both." | |
"[Mr Romney] will not be doing a fly-over," he added. "He will meet with local officials... get a first-hand briefing." | |
At a separate news conference in Plaquemines Parish outside of New Orleans, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu said she hoped Mr Romney would realise the importance of the US Army Corps of Engineers. | |
The Corps built and reinforced the levee system in New Orleans, among other projects. | |
"I realise he's all about cutting the federal budget, but this is one agency that absolutely cannot take any additional cuts," she said. | |
Plaquemines was among the areas hardest hit by flooding after an 8-ft (2.5-m) levee was overtopped, leaving many homes under about 12ft of water. | |
The Plaquemines levee was not part of a multi-billion dollar upgrade to the federal levees protecting the city. | |
Among those killed by the storm were a man and a woman in the town of Braithwaite, who apparently drowned in their kitchen as flood waters surged in. | |
In Mississippi, officials were pumping water from a reservoir on the Louisiana border to ease the pressure behind a storm-battered dam. | |
They planned to punch a hole in the barrier to release excess water on Friday. | |
About 600,000 people across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas are without power as of Friday, Reuters reports. | |
Mr Romney stood beside vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan in Lakeland, Florida on Friday morning and asked a crowd of supporters to help him find Obama voters who might cast a ballot for him in 2012. | |
"I know they're here," Mr Romney said. "They're not as visible as they used to be. You can find some of the glue where the bumper sticker used to be." | "I know they're here," Mr Romney said. "They're not as visible as they used to be. You can find some of the glue where the bumper sticker used to be." |
The former Massachusetts governor had capped off the Republican National Convention on Thursday evening with a speech that accused President Barack Obama of failing to deliver on his promises. | |
The 65-year-old presidential nominee vowed to create 12 million American jobs over the next four years and turn around an economy saddled with an 8.3% unemployment rate. | |
The Obama campaign said the Republican had "offered many personal attacks and gauzy platitudes, but no tangible ideas to move the country forward". | |