Key West, Fla. (AP) - Tropical Storm Isaac is churning toward the northern Gulf Coast and promises to give the Republican National Convention a good drenching after lashing the Florida Keys and Miami area with wind and rain.
The National Hurricane Center predicts Isaac will grow a Category 2 hurricane over the warm Gulf of Mexico and possibly hit late Tuesday somewhere along a stretch that starts west of New Orleans and runs to the edge of the Florida Panhandle.
That would be one day shy of seven years after Hurricane Katrina struck catastrophically in 2005.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called a state of emergency, and residents of St. Charles Parish near New Orleans were told to leave. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley also declared states of emergency.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. )
