The mayor’s office issued the following press release this evening in relation to the Cherry Blossom Festival Street Party scheduled for tonight:

Macon, GA, 3/26/11 – In light of current weather conditions and forecasted weather for tonight, Mayor Robert Reichert has cancelled this evening’s Cherry Blossom Festival Street Party.  The severe thunderstorms that have moved through the Macon area have downed power lines and disrupted traffic in the City of Macon, as well as resulted in tornado warnings and hail.  For the safety and welfare of the general public and for the need to commit public safety personnel to this pressing weather situation the street party has been cancelled.
“With thunderstorms present and continuing to approach the Middle Georgia area tonight, I have told the Cherry Blossom Festival leadership that the Street Party must be cancelled in the interest of public safety.  The City of Macon needs to redeploy public safety personnel to provide for the safety of the city as a whole and to put on the street party would overextend those resources as well as endanger the general public” said Mayor Robert Reichert.
“We have been working with the Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management Agency to provide for the safety of all our visitors and guests,” said Karen Lambert, Executive Director of the International Cherry Blossom Festival.  “We understand the impact of the current weather and the threat of the weather that is approaching the area tonight and agree in the best interest of all to cancel tonight’s Street Party.”
All citizens are encouraged to stay off the roads overnight and early tomorrow morning, unless absolutely necessary.  As information develops the Macon-Bibb EMA will notify the local media and will also post updates to the City of Macon website www.cityofmacon.net.