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ricane warnings extended across 280 miles from Morgan City, La., to the Florida-Alabama state line. It could become the first hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast since 2008.
• Early Tuesday, Isaac was a large and potent tropical storm packing top sustained winds of 70 mph. The storm system was centered about 125 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River at 5 a.m. EDT and moving northwest at 12 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
• Although Isaac's approach on the eve of the Katrina anniversary invited obvious comparisons, the storm is nowhere near as powerful as Katrina was when it struck on Aug. 29, 2005. Katrina at one point reached Category 5 status with winds of more than 157 mph, and made landfall as a Category 3 storm.
• Still, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warned that Isaac, especially if it strikes at high tide, could cause storm surges of up to 12 feet along low-lying areas including south Lafourche Parish, where hurricane veteran Windell Curole kept a close eye on the levee system he oversees; and in Houma, a city southwest of New Orleans, where people filled up a municipal auditorium-turned shelter.
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Republicans find it's an awkward time for politics as convention opens and Isaac threatens US
• TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- For the thousands of Republican convention-goers who've (Continued on page 26)
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