Hurricane Floyd hinders NIBA convention
By Industrial Distribution Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 10/1/1999
ORLANDO, FLA.--It was business as usual at the National Industrial Belting Assn.'s annual convention at Disney World in Orlando, Sept. 15-18, although many attendees were scared away by Hurricane Floyd. At press time, NIBA officials said attendance was notably down, but did not have an accurate attendance figure. The convention initially expected 640 registered attendees.Although Orlando was spared the worst of the hurricane, Disney World closed down at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, and did not reopen to the public until Thursday, Sept. 16.
"We had a huge convention planned and scheduled. People got scared off by the news reports," said Charles Blanchard, NIBA's executive director, on the first day of the convention. "Particularly people who were planning on bringing their kids down. But I think generally there's a very positive environment right now and the hotel has been super."
Overcoming transportation issues posed the biggest problem for NIBA. The Orlando International Airport closed on Tuesday and reopened at noon on Wednesday, though not all airlines resumed full service at that time and flight cancellations and delays continued to plague travelers further into the week as Hurricane Floyd as moved up the eastern seaboard.
"I'm not trying to minimize how devastating Floyd could have been," Blanchard said on the first day of the convention. "If it had gone inland as far as they thought it might have, obviously there would have been a real problem."
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