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Isaac Drenches Cuba, Heads Toward Florida

August 25, 2012, 2:36 pm
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Saturday, Aug. 25, 9:47 p.m. ET

A home that was built twice within the last two years is left in ruins during the passage of Tropical Storm Isaac near the seawall in Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday. (AP)

HAVANA (AP) - Tropical Storm Isaac pushed over Cuba on Saturday after sweeping across Haiti's southern peninsula, where it caused flooding and at least four deaths, adding to the misery of a poor nation still trying to recover from the terrible 2010 earthquake.

Isaac's center made landfall just before midday near the far-eastern tip of Cuba, downing trees and power lines. In the picturesque city of Baracoa, the storm surge flooded the seaside Malecon and a block inland, destroying two homes.

Forecasters said Isaac poses a threat to Florida Monday and Tuesday, just as the Republican Party gathers for its national convention in Tampa. It could eventually hit the Florida Panhandle as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of nearly 100 mph (160 kph).

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, officials urged vacationers to leave the Florida Keys and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said a hurricane warning was in effect there, as well as for the west coast of Florida from Bonita Beach south to Ocean Reef and for Florida Bay.

At least four people were reported dead in Haiti including a 10-year-old girl who had a wall fall on her, according to the country's Civil Protection Office. There were no immediate details on how the others died.

The government also reported two injuries; "considerable damage" to agriculture and homes; nearly 8,000 people who were evacuated from their houses or quake shelters; and more than 4,000 who were taken to temporary shelters.

Many, however, stayed and suffered.

The Grise River overflowed north of Port-au-Prince, sending chocolate-brown water spilling through the sprawling shantytown of Cite Soleil, where many people grabbed what possessions they could and carried them on their heads, wading through waist-deep water.

"From last night, we're in misery," said Cite Soleil resident Jean-Gymar Joseph. "All our children are sleeping in the mud, in the rain."

Scores of tents in quake settlements collapsed. In a roadside lot in Cite Soleil, the dozens of tents and shelters provided by international groups after the earthquake were tossed to the ground like pieces of crumpled paper, and the occupants tried to save their belongings.

"They promised they were going to build us a sturdy home and it never came," Jean-Robert Sauviren, an unemployed 63-year-old father of six said as he stood barefoot in the water and held aloft his arms. "Maybe we don't deserve anything."

Ricknel Charles, a 42-year-old pastor, sheltered some 50 displaced people in his church.

"This is the only thing I can do for them: give them a place to sleep," Charles said.

About 300 homes in Cite Soleil lost their roofs or were flooded three feet (one meter) deep, according to Rachel Brumbaugh, operation manager for the U.S. nonprofit group World Vision.

Doctors Without Borders said it anticipated a spike in cholera cases due to flooding and it was preparing to receive more patients.

The international airport reopened by the afternoon but there was still extensive flooding throughout Port-au-Prince after 24 hours of steady rain.

Forecasters predicted the storm would likely march up through the Gulf of Mexico and approach the Florida Keys on Sunday, then continue north off the state's west coast as a hurricane on Monday, just as the Republican National Convention is scheduled to start.

Tampa is within the tropical storm watch zone, meaning forecasters believe tropical storm conditions are possible there within the next 48 hours.

Gov. Scott said during a media briefing that delegates were being told how to stay safe during a storm, and officials were ready for storm surge, bridge closures and other problems that could arise during the convention.

After hitting land near the easternmost tip of Cuba on Saturday, Isaac's center spent just a few hours over the island before reemerging into the water, where it was expected to pick up strength.

On Saturday night, the storm was centered about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east-northeast of Camaguey, Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), the Hurricane Center reported. It was moving northwest along the Cuban coastline at 20 mph (31 kph).

Tropical storm-force winds extended nearly 205 miles (335 kilometers) from the center, giving Isaac a broad sweep as it passed.

In Baracoa, authorities cut off electricity as a preventive measure. Civil defense officials patrolled the streets and told onlookers to be careful as they gawked at the powerful surf kicked up by the storm. Waves crashing against the seawall sent spray high into the air and deposited rocks and other debris on land.

Dariel Villares and a cousin who lives next door lost their seaside homes.

"A high wave came and knocked down both walls: mine and my cousin's," Villares said. "Now we're removing everything of value."

There were no reports of fatalities, Red Cross worker Javier de la Cruz said.

Flooding was reported in low-lying coastal areas and 230 people were in emergency shelters, according to state TV.

In central Cuba, far to the west of Baracoa, the Sol Cayo Coco beach resort moved guests out of ground floor rooms. Intermittent rains and gusty winds buffeted Havana, 560 miles (900 kilometers) away.

Cuba has a highly organized civil defense system that goes door-to-door to enforce evacuations of at-risk areas, largely averting casualties from storms even when they cause major flooding and significant damage to crops.

Near the island's southeastern tip, the U.S. military suspended ferry service at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and bunked guards inside prison facilities, but operations were returning to normal by late afternoon.

"The bad weather did not materialize here as tropical storm Isaac turned away," Navy Capt. Robert Durand said.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic evacuated nearly 7,800 people from low-lying areas, and at least 10 rural settlements were cut off by flooding, according to Juan Manuel Mendez, director of rescue teams. Power was knocked out in parts of the capital, Santo Domingo.

There were no reports of injuries, but 49 homes across the country were destroyed.

Authorities discontinued a tropical storm warning, but rainfall was expected to reach up to 12 inches (300 millimeters) over the weekend.

"We still have a big cloudy area over the island that will produce lots of rain" until Sunday afternoon, said Francisco Holguin of the local meteorological agency.

 

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Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, Dies at 82

August 25, 2012, 3:16 pm
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CINCINNATI (AP) - Neil Armstrong was a soft-spoken engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step onto the moon. The modest man, who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter-million miles away, but credited others for the feat, died Saturday. He was 82.

Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, his family said in a statement. Armstrong had had a bypass operation this month, according to NASA. His family didn't say where he died; he had lived in suburban Cincinnati.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific expeditions. His first words after becoming the first person to set foot on the surface are etched in history books and the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said.

(Armstrong insisted later that he had said "a'' before man, but said he, too, couldn't hear it in the version that went to the world.)

In those first few moments on the moon, during the climax of a heated space race with the Soviet Union, Armstrong stopped in what he called "a tender moment" and left a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action.

"It was special and memorable but it was only instantaneous because there was work to do," Armstrong told an Australian television interviewer this year.

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the lunar surface, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs.

"The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to," Armstrong once said.

The moonwalk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race that began Oct. 4, 1957, with the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, a 184-pound satellite that sent shock waves around the world.

Although he had been a Navy fighter pilot, a test pilot for NASA's forerunner and an astronaut, Armstrong never allowed himself to be caught up in the celebrity and glamour of the space program.

"I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said in 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. "And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."

Fellow Ohioan and astronaut John Glenn, one of Armstrong's closest friends, recalled Saturday how Armstrong was down to the last 15 seconds to 35 seconds of fuel when he finally brought the Eagle down on the Sea of Tranquility.

"That showed a dedication to what he was doing that was admirable," Glenn said.

A man who kept away from cameras, Armstrong went public in 2010 with his concerns about President Barack Obama's space policy that shifted attention away from a return to the moon and emphasized private companies developing spaceships. He testified before Congress, and in an email to The Associated Press, Armstrong said he had "substantial reservations," and along with more than two dozen Apollo-era veterans, he signed a letter calling the plan a "misguided proposal that forces NASA out of human space operations for the foreseeable future."

Armstrong was among the greatest of American heroes, Obama said in a statement.

"When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable - that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible," Obama said.

Obama's Republican opponent Mitt Romney echoed those sentiments, calling Armstrong an American hero whose passion for space, science and discovery will inspire him for the rest of his life.

"With courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country, he walked where man had never walked before. The moon will miss its first son of earth," Romney said.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recalled Armstrong's grace and humility.

"As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world beyond our own," Bolden said in a statement.

Armstrong's modesty and self-effacing manner never faded.

When he appeared in Dayton in 2003 to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, he bounded onto a stage before 10,000 people packed into a baseball stadium. But he spoke for only a few seconds, did not mention the moon, and quickly ducked out of the spotlight.

He later joined Glenn, by then a senator, to lay wreaths on the graves of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Glenn introduced Armstrong and noted it was 34 years to the day that Armstrong had walked on the moon.

"Thank you, John. Thirty-four years?" Armstrong quipped, as if he hadn't given it a thought.

At another joint appearance, the two embraced and Glenn commented: "To this day, he's the one person on earth I'm truly, truly envious of."

Armstrong's moonwalk capped a series of accomplishments that included piloting the X-15 rocket plane and making the first space docking during the Gemini 8 mission, which included a successful emergency splashdown.

In the years afterward, Armstrong retreated to the quiet of the classroom and his southwestern Ohio farm. Aldrin said in his book "Men from Earth" that Armstrong was one of the quietest, most private men he had ever met.

In the Australian interview, Armstrong acknowledged that "now and then I miss the excitement about being in the cockpit of an airplane and doing new things."

At the time of the flight's 40th anniversary, Armstrong again was low-key, telling a gathering that the space race was "the ultimate peaceful competition: USA versus U.S.S.R. It did allow both sides to take the high road with the objectives of science and learning and exploration."

Glenn, who went through jungle training in Panama with Armstrong as part of the astronaut program, described him as "exceptionally brilliant" with technical matters but "rather retiring, doesn't like to be thrust into the limelight much."

Derek Elliott, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's U.S. Air and Space Museum from 1982 to 1992, said the moonwalk probably marked the high point of space exploration.

The manned lunar landing was a boon to the prestige of the United States, which had been locked in a space race with the former Soviet Union, and re-established U.S. pre-eminence in science and technology, Elliott said.

"The fact that we were able to see it and be a part of it means that we are in our own way witnesses to history," he said.

The 1969 landing met an audacious deadline that President John F. Kennedy had set in May 1961, shortly after Alan Shepard became the first American in space with a 15-minute suborbital flight. (Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin had orbited the Earth and beaten the U.S. into space the previous month.)

"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth," Kennedy had said. "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important to the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

The end-of-decade goal was met with more than five months to spare. "Houston: Tranquility Base here," Armstrong radioed after the spacecraft settled onto the moon. "The Eagle has landed."

"Roger, Tranquility," Apollo astronaut Charles Duke radioed back from Mission Control. "We copy you on the ground. You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."

The third astronaut on the mission, Michael Collins, circled the moon in the mother ship Columbia 60 miles overhead while Armstrong and Aldrin went to the moon's surface.

Collins told NASA on Saturday that he will miss Armstrong terribly, spokesman Bob Jacobs tweeted.

In all, 12 American astronauts walked on the moon from 1969 to the last moon mission in 1972.

For Americans, reaching the moon provided uplift and respite from the Vietnam War, from strife in the Middle East, from the startling news just a few days earlier that a young woman had drowned in a car driven off a wooden bridge on Chappaquiddick Island by Sen. Edward Kennedy. The landing occurred as organizers were gearing up for Woodstock, the legendary three-day rock festival on a farm in the Catskills of New York.

Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, on a farm near Wapakoneta in western Ohio. He took his first airplane ride at age 6 and developed a fascination with aviation that prompted him to build model airplanes and conduct experiments in a homemade wind tunnel.

As a boy, he worked at a pharmacy and took flying lessons. He was licensed to fly at 16, before he got his driver's license.

Armstrong enrolled in Purdue University to study aeronautical engineering but was called to duty with the U.S. Navy in 1949 and flew 78 combat missions in Korea.

After the war, Armstrong finished his degree from Purdue and later earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He became a test pilot with what evolved into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, flying more than 200 kinds of aircraft from gliders to jets.

Armstrong was accepted into NASA's second astronaut class in 1962 - the first, including Glenn, was chosen in 1959 - and commanded the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. After the first space docking, he brought the capsule back in an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean when a wildly firing thruster kicked it out of orbit.

Armstrong was backup commander for the historic Apollo 8 mission at Christmastime in 1968. In that flight, Commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders circled the moon 10 times, paving the way for the lunar landing seven months later.

Aldrin said he and Armstrong were not prone to free exchanges of sentiment.

"But there was that moment on the moon, a brief moment, in which we sort of looked at each other and slapped each other on the shoulder ... and said, 'We made it. Good show,' or something like that," Aldrin said.

An estimated 600 million people - a fifth of the world's population - watched and listened to the landing, the largest audience for any single event in history.

Parents huddled with their children in front of the family television, mesmerized by what they were witnessing. Farmers abandoned their nightly milking duties, and motorists pulled off the highway and checked into motels just to see the moonwalk.

Television-less campers in California ran to their cars to catch the word on the radio. Boy Scouts at a camp in Michigan watched on a generator-powered television supplied by a parent.

Afterward, people walked out of their homes and gazed at the moon, in awe of what they had just seen. Others peeked through telescopes in hopes of spotting the astronauts.

In Wapakoneta, media and souvenir frenzy was swirling around the home of Armstrong's parents.

"You couldn't see the house for the news media," recalled John Zwez, former manager of the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum. "People were pulling grass out of their front yard."

Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were given ticker tape parades in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and later made a 22-nation world tour. A homecoming in Wapakoneta drew 50,000 people to the city of 9,000.

In 1970, Armstrong was appointed deputy associate administrator for aeronautics at NASA but left the following year to teach aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

He remained there until 1979 and during that time bought a 310-acre farm near Lebanon, where he raised cattle and corn. He stayed out of public view, accepting few requests for interviews or speeches.

"He didn't give interviews, but he wasn't a strange person or hard to talk to," said Ron Huston, a colleague at the University of Cincinnati. "He just didn't like being a novelty."

Those who knew him said he enjoyed golfing with friends, was active in the local YMCA and frequently ate lunch at the same restaurant in Lebanon.

In 2000, when he agreed to announce the top 20 engineering achievements of the 20th century as voted by the National Academy of Engineering, Armstrong said there was one disappointment relating to his moonwalk.

"I can honestly say - and it's a big surprise to me - that I have never had a dream about being on the moon," he said.

From 1982 to 1992, Armstrong was chairman of Charlottesville, Va.-based Computing Technologies for Aviation Inc., a company that supplies computer information management systems for business aircraft.

He then became chairman of AIL Systems Inc., an electronic systems company in Deer Park, N.Y.

Armstrong married Carol Knight in 1999, and the couple lived in Indian Hill, a Cincinnati suburb. He had two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Armstrong's is the second death in a month of one of NASA's most visible, history-making astronauts. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died of pancreatic cancer on July 23 at age 61.

One of the NASA's closest astronaut friends was fellow Ohioan and Mercury astronaut Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.

Just prior to the 50th anniversary of Glenn's orbital flight this past February, Armstrong offered high praise to the elder astronaut and said that Glenn had told him many times how he wished he, too, had flown to the moon on Apollo 11. Glenn said it was his only regret.

Noted Armstrong in an email: "I am hoping I will be 'in his shoes' and have as much success in longevity as he has demonstrated." Glenn is 91.

At the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles on Saturday, visitors held a minute of silence for Armstrong. For anyone else who wanted to remember him, his family's statement made a simple request:

"Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

 

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Isaac Threatens Florida Keys, Northern Gulf Coast

August 26, 2012, 12:48 am
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Sunday, Aug. 26, 10:25 a.m. ET


KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Tropical Storm Isaac gained fresh muscle Sunday as it bore down on the Florida Keys, with forecasters warning it could grow into a dangerous Category 2 hurricane as it nears the northern Gulf Coast.

Isaac drew new strength early Sunday during a warm-water crossing of the Florida Straits after causing weekend havoc in Cuba, where it downed trees and power lines. Before that, Isaac was blamed for four deaths in Haiti.

On Key West, locals followed time-worn storm preparedness rituals while awaiting the storm after Isaac swamped the Caribbean and shuffled plans for the Republican National Convention. Forecasters said the storm was expected to reach the archipelago sometime Sunday at or near hurricane strength.

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

A steady line of cars moved north Saturday along the Overseas Highway, the only road linking the Florida Keys. Residents boarded up windows, laid down sandbags and shuttered businesses ahead of the approaching storm. Even Duval Street, Key West's storied main drag, was subdued for a weekend, though not enough to stop music from playing or drinks from being poured.

"We'll just catch every place that's open," said Ted Lamarche, a 48-year-old pizzeria owner visiting Key West to celebrate his anniversary with his wife, Deanna. They walked along Duval Street, where a smattering of people still wandered even as many storefronts were boarded up and tourists sported ponchos and yellow slickers.

"Category None!" one man shouted in a show of optimism.

The Keys were bracing storm surge of up to four feet, strong winds and the possibility of tornadoes. The island chain's two airports closed Saturday night, and volunteers and some residents began filing into shelters.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean

"This is a huge inconvenience," said Dale Shelton, a 57-year-old retiree in Key West who was staying in a shelter.

Isaac has already left a trail of suffering across the Caribbean.

The storm's center made landfall Saturday near the far-eastern tip of Cuba, downing trees and power lines. In the picturesque city of Baracoa, the storm surge flooded the seaside Malecon and a block inland, destroying two homes.

At least four people were reported dead in Haiti, including a 10-year-old girl who had a wall fall on her, according to the country's Civil Protection Office. The government also reported "considerable damage" to agriculture and homes. Nearly 8,000 people were evacuated from their houses or quake shelters and more than 4,000 were taken to temporary shelters.

The Grise River in Haiti overflowed north of Port-au-Prince, sending chocolate-brown water spilling through the sprawling shantytown of Cite Soleil, where many people grabbed what possessions they could and carried them on their heads, wading through waist-deep water.

RELATED ON SKYE: How to Survive a Hurricane

Scores of tents in quake settlements collapsed. In a roadside lot in Cite Soleil, the dozens of tents and shelters provided by international groups after the earthquake were tossed to the ground like pieces of crumpled paper, and the occupants tried to save their belongings.

After Isaac passes the Keys, it will move over the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to gain significant strength. It could ultimately make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

"Definitely the northern Gulf Coast should be preparing for a hurricane right now," Jessica Schauer, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. However, she did note that the forecast that many days away is more uncertain than immediate predictions.

A Category 2 hurricane is capable of top sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph (154 to 177 kph).

Isaac isn't likely to hit Tampa head-on, but it could still lash the city with rain and strong winds just as the convention ramps up. A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of Florida's west coast, including Tampa Bay.

Convention officials said they would convene briefly on Monday, then immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, when the storm is expected to have passed. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, declared a state of emergency and canceled his plans to attend convention events on Sunday and Monday.

As of 8 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 135 miles (220 km) east-southeast of Key West, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Isaac had top sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph).

It was moving to the northwest toward the Keys at 20 mph (31 kph). Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 205 miles (335 km) from the center, meaning storm conditions were possible in many places even if Isaac does not pass directly overhead.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the Keys, including the Dry Tortugas and for the west coast of Florida from Bonita Beach south to Ocean Reef, among some other areas, authorities said.

Meanwhile, authorities said a new hurricane watch has been issued from the mouth of the Mississippi River - not including the New Orleans metro area - eastward to Indian Pass., Fla.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean

 

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Watch: Florida Governor to Residents: 'Get Prepared'

August 26, 2012, 1:25 am
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Storm Track: Isaac's Projected Path

August 26, 2012, 2:04 am
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Monday, Aug. 27, 2 p.m. ET
The latest projection from the National Hurricane Center shows Isaac tracking toward the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center predicted Isaac would grow to a Category 1 hurricane over the warm Gulf and possibly hit late Tuesday somewhere along a roughly 300-mile stretch from the bayous southwest of New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle. The size of the warning area and the storm's wide bands of rain and wind prompted emergency declarations in four states.




RELATED ON SKYE: Stunning Hurricane Photos from Space

 

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Tropical Storm Isaac Starts Lashing Florida Keys

August 26, 2012, 4:21 am
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Sunday, Aug. 26, 2:35 p.m. ET


KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Tropical Storm Isaac started pelting the Florida Keys with rain and strong winds on Sunday, and it could strengthen into a dangerous hurricane by the time it starts hitting the northern Gulf Coast in the coming days.

Exactly where Isaac would hit once it passed the Keys remained highly uncertain, with forecasters saying hurricane conditions could reach anywhere from the New Orleans metro area to the Florida Panhandle by Tuesday. And the storm is large: tropical storm conditions extend more than 200 miles from the storm's center, meaning Isaac could cause significant damage even in places where it does not pass directly overhead.

Isaac has brought havoc to the Caribbean already, killing seven people in Haiti and downing trees and power lines in Cuba. And it had officials worried enough in Tampa that they shuffled around some plans for the Republican National Convention.

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

However, Isaac had yet to create a panic in South Florida, and it wasn't expected to become a hurricane by the time it passed over the Florida Keys. In Miami Shores, some residents said they hadn't even put up storm shutters. Edwin Reeder, 65, stopped by a gas station to pick up some drinks and snacks. He didn't bother topping off his car's half-full fuel tank.

Reeder said he hadn't put up storm shutters, instead just clearing his gutters so all the water could drain. And while he didn't stock up on canned goods for himself, he did buy some extra cat and dog food for his pets.

"This isn't a storm," he said. "It's a rain storm."

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

On Key West, locals followed time-worn storm preparedness rituals while awaiting the storm after Isaac swamped the Caribbean and shuffled plans for the Republican National Convention. Hundreds of flights were canceled Sunday as the storm bore down.

A steady line of cars moved north Saturday along the Overseas Highway, the only road linking the Florida Keys. Residents boarded up windows, laid down sandbags and shuttered businesses ahead of the approaching storm. Even Duval Street, Key West's storied main drag, was subdued for a weekend, though not enough to stop music from playing or drinks from being poured.

"We'll just catch every place that's open," said Ted Lamarche, a 48-year-old pizzeria owner visiting Key West to celebrate his anniversary with his wife, Deanna. They walked along on Duval Street, where a smattering of people still wandered even as many storefronts were boarded up and tourists sported ponchos and yellow slickers.

"Category None!" one man shouted in a show of optimism.

The Keys were bracing storm surge of up to 4 feet, strong winds and the possibility of tornadoes. The island chain's two airports closed Saturday night, and volunteers and some residents began filing into shelters.

"This is a huge inconvenience," said Dale Shelton, a 57-year-old retiree in Key West who was staying in a shelter.

Isaac has already left a trail of suffering across the Caribbean.

VIDEO ON SKYE: Isaac Forecasted to Hit Gulf Coast

At least seven people were reported dead in Haiti, including a 10-year-old girl who had a wall fall on her, according to the country's Civil Protection Office. The government also reported "considerable damage" to agriculture and homes. Nearly 8,000 people were evacuated from their houses or earthquake shelters and more than 4,000 were taken to temporary shelters.

The Grise River in Haiti overflowed north of Port-au-Prince, sending chocolate-brown water spilling through the sprawling shantytown of Cite Soleil, where many people grabbed what possessions they could and carried them on their heads, wading through waist-deep water.

After Isaac passes the Keys, it will move over the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to gain significant strength. It could ultimately make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast late Tuesday or early Wednesday. However, forecasters have stressed that the storm's exact path remains highly uncertain.

"Definitely the northern Gulf Coast should be preparing for a hurricane right now," Jessica Schauer, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Isaac isn't likely to hit Tampa head-on, but it could still lash the city with rain and strong winds just as the convention ramps up. A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of Florida's west coast, including Tampa Bay.

Convention officials said they would meet briefly on Monday, then immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, when the storm is expected to have passed. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, declared a state of emergency and canceled his plans to attend convention events on Sunday and Monday.

As of 8 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Key West, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Isaac had top sustained winds of 60 mph (97 kph).

It was moving to the west-northwest toward the Keys at 18 mph (29 kph).

RELATED ON SKYE: Photos: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean

 

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Storm Forcing Republican Convention Overhaul

August 26, 2012, 4:55 am
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Sunday, Aug. 26, 12:08 p.m. ET

(AP)

TAMPA, Florida (AP) - Republicans were scrambling Sunday to rejigger the schedule for their massive rally to officially name Mitt Romney to challenge President Barack Obama, working feverishly on a new rundown for the storm-shortened gathering that kicks off the fall campaign for the White House.

As Tropical Storm Isaac whirled north along Florida's west coast, Romney and his party canceled Monday's first day of the Republican National Convention in a bow to nature's potential fury.

"The safety of those in Isaac's path is of the utmost importance," Romney tweeted after Republican officials announced they had called off Monday's convention proceedings.

Because of possible storm surges and flooding Isaac could bring, convention organizers said they were making contingency plans to move delegates who have been booked into beachfront hotels to other locations if necessary. They indicated the schedule shift also was meant to prevent overburdening emergency response personnel at the height of the storm.

RELATED ON SKYE: Isaac Starts Lashing Florida Keys

While blue skies with patches of clouds hung over Tampa early Sunday, winds were picking up as Isaac lumbered north through the Gulf of Mexico.

As aides in Tampa worked to reshape the schedule, Romney was taking a rare day off the campaign trail at his lakeside vacation home in New Hampshire, receiving updates on the storm and making final preparations for the Thursday speech with which he will accept his party's presidential nomination.

Obama was at the Camp David presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains north of Washington, gearing up for campaigning this week on college campuses across Iowa, Colorado and Virginia - all so-called swing states where polls show voters are not solidly in the camp of one candidate or the other.

The U.S. president is not chosen according to the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests. Of the 50 states, about 43 are already viewed as settled upon Romney or Obama, meaning the outcome in seven states - including those Obama visits this week - likely will decide which man sits in the White House for the next four years.

Republicans decided late Saturday to bring the convention symbolically into session Monday but to postpone the day's events until Tuesday.

Convention spokesman James Davis said organizers were closely monitoring the storm's path but planned to rely on emergency management officials to guide decisions on whether to relocate delegates at waterfront hotels. So far, none have been moved nor had officials received word of major problems for inbound delegates.

Davis said the GOP's advice to delegates was "if your travel plans have not been interrupted and they're set, we recommend you come on down."

Obama has dispatched the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a command center and move more resources into the state. Vice President Joe Biden scrapped a planned campaign trip into Florida that was to counter the start of the Republican gathering.

Republicans hope to use this week's convention to cast Romney as a determined leader with the know-how to fix the country's economy. They also want to introduce him as a family-oriented figure to counter Democrats' attempts to paint him as a cold-hearted and ruthless businessman.

Romney and his wife, Ann, looked to show off the more personal side with a joint interview airing Sunday.

"I wish everyone could see him how I see him, because as a mother, I've seen him, how compassionate he's been with me, as a wife and my raising these small children and how he always valued my work as being more important than his," Ann Romney said in the Fox News interview taped at the family's New Hampshire summer home.

The candidate described his wife as his "best friend, obviously, and my counselor throughout my life," according to an advance transcript.

While the Romneys reveled in their convention, Obama was looking forward the Democratic convention a week later in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In an interview with The Associated Press published Saturday, Obama sought to portray Romney as someone beholden to "extreme positions" on economic and social issues. Obama took pains to paint Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, as ideologues at a time when voters seem frustrated by government gridlock.

After a near-constant travel schedule since he was announced as the Republican vice presidential candidate, Ryan was also taking a rare break.

After a Saturday evening fundraiser in Manchester, New Hampshire, he returned home to Janesville, Wisconsin. Aides said Ryan planned a quiet Sunday. Then, before flying to Florida, he was to appear at a Monday rally in his hometown that was likely to offer him a hero's send off.

 

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Watch: Isaac Forecasted to Hit Gulf Coast

August 26, 2012, 5:25 am
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Photos: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean

August 26, 2012, 5:35 am
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    Before approaching the Florida Keys on Sunday, Tropical Storm Isaac wreaked havoc in a few Caribbean islands. Both Cuba and Haiti were hit with heavy winds and rain that caused flooding, power outages and downed trees. At least seven people were killed in Haiti, which -- still recovering from the 2010 earthquake -- is prone to flooding and mudslides.

    Click through for images of Isaac's impact in the Caribbean.

    At left, residents leave their flooded homes in a low-lying area affected by Tropical Storm Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday.

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    A woman swims through flood waters in a low-lying area affected by Tropical Storm Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday. 

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    A man who was watching the sea and got pulled in by a wave fights the current as Tropical Storm Isaac hits Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday. The man got out of the water safely on his own. Tropical Storm Isaac pushed into Cuba on Saturday after sweeping across Haiti's southern peninsula. Isaac's center made landfall just before midday near the far-eastern tip of Cuba.

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    Men lay behind the seawall as waves from Tropical Storm Isaac splash over them in Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday. 

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    Men stand behind the seawall as waves churned by Tropical Storm Isaac splash over them in Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday.

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    A man stands on a post with a stop sign as waves pass the seawall during the passage of Tropical Storm Isaac in Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday.

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    A home that was built twice within the last two years is left in ruins during the passage of Tropical Storm Isaac near the seawall in Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday.

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    A woman wades through a flooded street under the rain as Tropical Storm Isaac affects Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Friday.

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    A woman struggles with her umbrella due to the wind as Tropical Storm Isaac affects Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Friday.

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    A youth carries a rubber float on the beach in Guama, Cuba, Friday. Cuba declared a state of alert Friday for six eastern provinces.

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    Soldiers and civilians unload mattresses and bed frames to a shelter as they prepare for the arrival of Tropical Storm Isaac in Siboney, Cuba, Friday.

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    Pastor Jules Jean Gabriel leads church members from the Marassa Tent City in Croix des Boquets, Haiti, in prayers Friday ahead of Tropical Storm Isaac. The pastor had told his parishioners, who chose not to heed evacuation orders, not to lose faith.

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    Kerlayn Edmond and her baby Jean Erlins Moleon arrive from a Haitian tent city at the Jean Marie Vincent High School shelter in Tabarre, Haiti, Friday.

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    Evacuees from a Haitian tent city arrive at the Jean Marie Vincent High School shelter in Tabarre, Haiti, Friday.

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    A man rides his bike as he watches the rising water from the Riviere Grise, running alongside the Marassa 14 Tent City, Haiti, where Tropical Storm Isaac collapsed tents overnight, Saturday, Aug. 25.

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    People wait to get on a truck as a fruit vendor packs his belongings after a day at the beach in Guama, Cuba, Friday.

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    Evacuees from a Haitian tent city arrive on a bus at the Jean Marie Vincent High School shelter in Tabarre, Haiti, Friday.

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    People run over a bridge covered by debris as waves hit the seawall, caused by Tropical Storm Isaac in Barahona, Dominican Republic, Friday.

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    Next: Stunning Hurricane Photos from Space

    People gather and dance as they take cover from heavy rain while Tropical Storm Isaac approaches in Barahona, Dominican Republic, Friday.

 

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Photos: Tropical Storm Isaac Soaks Florida

August 26, 2012, 6:49 am
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    Tropical Storm Isaac drenched Florida on Sunday, Aug. 26. The storm, which turned northwest after soaking the Florida Keys, is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday and make landfall somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida panhandle.

    Click through for photos.

    At left, a person walks by a sign warning about Hurricane Isaac, in Key West, Sunday, Aug. 26.

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    Anton Snitgen, Jenna Curl, Jackie Curl and Michael Manemut run along a dock at Key West Bight Marina in Key West as Tropical Storm Isaac hits the area on Sunday.

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    A newspaper headline is seen on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday.

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    Florida Power & Light Company line specialist Dustin Pezet works to restore power as Tropical Storm Isaac strikes in Miami on Sunday.

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    A person braves the rain at Clarence Higgs Beach in Key West as Tropical Storm Isaac hits the area on Sunday.

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    Craig Jones, left, and Kimberly Branson secure their boat in Key West, Fla., Sunday.

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    The southernmost point marker is covered in plastic sheeting in Key West, Fla., Saturday.

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    A steady stream of cars move north in the middle Keys as the Florida Keys prepare for Tropical Storm Isaac, Saturday. 

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    Joel Jimenez, right, and Issac Page remove an awning outside the Tampa Convention Center, which serves as the media center for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday.

    RELATED: Storm Forcing RNC Overhaul

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    Connie Rivero and her son Anthony Amador fill plastic bags with sand at the Hollywood Public Works Department as they prepare for possible floods from Tropical Storm Isaac on Saturday in Hollywood, Fla.

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    Andrew Marino (left) and Colby Collier wheel a cart of sandbags back to their homes ahead of Tropical Storm Isaac  on Sunday in St. Pete Beach.

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    Robert Manis of Mango shops for batteries, flashlights, canned food and other supplies in preparation for Isaac on Sunday in Seffer, a few miles east of Tampa.

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    A beach closure sign stands along the St. Petersburg waterfront on Sunday.

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    Harley Rojas dismantles the tarp next to his mobile home at the Sunshine Key RV Resort as the Florida Keys prepare for Tropical Storm Isaac, Saturday.

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    A houseboat is towed in the middle keys as the Florida Keys prepare for Tropical Storm Isaac on Saturday.

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    Kerol Obando and her son Andres exit a Publix grocery store in Tavernier, Fla., as the Florida Keys prepare for the storm Saturday.

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    Yoni Haim, left, and Jessica Yeshalek board their storefront as they prepare for Tropical Storm Isaac on Saturday.

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    Oren Eshel boards a storefront on Duval Street in Key West, Fla. Saturday in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac.

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    Shira Edllan Gervasi, of Israel, puts her name on plywood protecting a storefront in Key West, Fla. on Saturday.

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    Most of the bottled water at Wal-Mart in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was purchased by noon on Saturday in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac.

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    A cyclist rides his bike in Key West, Fla., Sunday.

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    Tampa area residents make preparations for the arrival of Tropical Storm Issac by filling sandbags at a Hillsborough County Public Works Service Center on Saturday.

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    Next: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean

    Two men install storm shutters on Duval Street in Key West on Saturday

 

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Gulf Coast Braces for a Hurricane

August 26, 2012, 10:09 am
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Sunday, Aug. 25, 11:00 p.m. ET


KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Tropical Storm Isaac barely stirred Florida Keys residents from their fabled nonchalance Sunday, while the Gulf Coast braced for the possibility that the sprawling storm will strengthen into a dangerous hurricane by the time it makes landfall there.

It was on course to strike land on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a powerful storm that crippled New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and became a symbol of government ineptitude. Forecasters expected Isaac to pass the Keys late Sunday before turning northwest and striking as a Category 2 hurricane somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for a large swath of the northern Gulf Coast from east of Morgan City, La. - which includes the New Orleans area - to Destin, Fla. A Category 2 hurricane has sustained winds of between 96 and 110 mph (154 to 177 kph).

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called a state of emergency and officials in St. Charles Parish near New Orleans told its 53,000 residents to leave ahead of the storm. Jindal also said he may skip a speaking engagement later this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa unless the threat to his state subsides. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has also canceled his trip to the convention because of Isaac.

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

Elected leaders' vigilance toward tropical storms has heightened in the seven years since Katrina struck. Criticism was leveled at officials reaching all the way to the White House over what was seen as the federal government's slow and bungled response to the storm that killed 1,800.

An emergency declaration was also issued in Mississippi by Gov. Phil Bryant amid concerns of storm surge threatening low-lying areas. Oil companies began evacuating workers from offshore oil rigs and cutting production in advance of Isaac.

The storm was on a course to pass west of Tampa, but it had already disrupted the Republicans' schedule there because of the likelihood of heavy rain and strong winds that extended more than 200 miles from its center.

Even before reaching hurricane strength, Isaac caused considerable inconvenience, with more than 550 flights canceled at Miami International Airport and about 150 from Fort Lauderdale's airport. There were scattered power outages from Key West to Fort Lauderdale affecting more than 16,000 customers, and flooding occurred in low-lying areas.

Gov. Rick Scott said at a news conference Sunday evening that only minor damage was reported from Isaac.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

Wind gusts of 60 mph were reported as far north as Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. But while officials urged residents in southeast Florida to stay home, that recommendation was ignored by surfers and joggers on Miami Beach and shoppers at area malls.

In Key West, Emalyn Mercer rode her bike while decked out with a snorkel and mask, inflatable arm bands and a paddle, just for a laugh. She rode with Kelly Friend, who wore a wet suit, dive cap and lobster gloves.

"We're just going for a drink," Mercer said.

"With the ones that are brave enough like us," Friend added.

Along famed Duval Street, many stores, bars and restaurants closed, the cigar rollers and palm readers packed up, and just a handful of drinking holes remained open.

But people posed for pictures at the Southernmost Point, while at a marina Dave Harris and Robyn Roth took her dachshund for a walk and checked out boats rocking along the waterfront.

"Just a summer day in Key West," Harris said.

That kind of ho-hum attitude extended farther up the coast. Edwin Reeder swung by a gas station in Miami Shores - not for fuel, but drinks and snacks.

"This isn't a storm," he said. "It's a rain storm."

With a laugh, Reeder said he has not stocked up aside from buying dog and cat food.

The forecast wasn't funny, however. Isaac was expected to draw significant strength from the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, but there remained much uncertainty about its path.

The Gulf Coast hasn't been hit by a hurricane since 2008, when Dolly, Ike and Gustav all struck the region. Florida, meanwhile, has been hurricane-free since it was struck four times each in 2004 and 2005.

VIDEO ON SKYE: Isaac Forecasted to Hit Gulf Coast

Hurricane center forecasters are uncertain of the storm's path because two of their best computer models now track the storm on opposite sides of a broad cone. One model has Isaac going well west and the other well east. For the moment, the predicted track goes up the middle.

Florida Panhandle residents stocked up on water and gasoline, and at least one Pensacola store ran out of flashlight models and C and D batteries. Scott Reynolds, who lives near the water in Gulf Breeze, filled his car trunk with several cases of water, dozens of power bars and ramen noodles.

"Cigarettes - I'm stocking up on those too," he said.

Forecasters stressed that the storm's exact location remained extremely uncertain - a fact not lost on Tony Varnado as he cut sheets of plywood to board up his family's beach home on Pensacola Beach. With the storm's projected path creeping farther to the west, the Mandeville, La., resident joked he might be boarding up the wrong house.

"I'm going to head back that way as soon as we are done here to make sure we are prepared if hits there," he said.

Before reaching Florida, Isaac was blamed for seven deaths in Haiti and two more in the Dominican Republic, and downed trees and power lines in Cuba. It bore down on the Keys two days after the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, which caused more than $25 billion in damage just north of the island chain.

In Tampa, convention officials said they would convene briefly on Monday, then recess until Tuesday afternoon, when the storm was expected to have passed. Scott canceled his plans to attend convention events on Sunday and Monday.

At Miami International Airport, more than 550 flights Sunday were canceled. Inside the American Airlines terminal, people craned for a look out of one of the doors as a particularly strong band of Isaac began lashing the airport with strong rain and high wind.

Michele Remillard said she was trying to get a seat on a flight to New Orleans, well aware the city could be affected by Isaac later this week. In coastal Plaquemines Parish, La., crews rushed to protect the levees that keep floodwaters from reaching that New Orleans suburb.

"It's a little scary," said Remillard, who was in town for a wedding. "But I need to get home, you know? And if the storm comes my way again, who knows, I might have to come back here."

As of 8 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 530 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Isaac had top sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph) and was moving to the northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).

Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 205 miles (335 km) from the center, meaning storm conditions are possible even in places not in Isaac's direct path.

RELATED ON SKYE: Photos: Tropical Storm Isaac Soaks Florida

 

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Isaac Takes Aim at New Orleans as Hurricane

August 27, 2012, 1:25 am
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Updated Aug. 27, 6:12 p.m. ET

(NOAA)

By Kevin McGill

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The center of Tropical Storm Isaac's projected path took it directly toward New Orleans for a projected landfall as early as Tuesday night, nearly seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Forecasters on Monday said Isaac will intensify into a Category 1 hurricane later Monday or Tuesday - far less powerful than Katrina in 2005. Still, residents shuddered and President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, making federal funding available for emergency activities related to the storm.

Isaac, which left 24 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic over the weekend, has shifted course from Tampa, where the Republican National Convention pushed back its start to Tuesday in case the storm passed closer to the gulfside city.

Hurricane warnings extended across some 330 miles (530 kilometers) Monday, from Louisiana to western Florida. The National Hurricane Center said Isaac was expected to have top winds of around 95 mph (153 kph) when it hits land. Katrina's winds reached a high of more than 157 mph (252 kph) when it hit on Aug. 29, 2005.

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

The size of the warning area and the storm's wide bands of rain and wind prompted emergency declarations in Mississippi, Florida and Alabama as well. Evacuations were ordered for some low-lying areas, and hurricane-tested residents were boarding up homes and stocking up on food and water.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said the updated flood defenses around New Orleans are equipped to handle storms stronger than Isaac. Levee failures led to the catastrophic flooding in the area after Katrina, which killed 1,800.

In New Orleans, officials had no plans to order evacuations and instead told residents to hunker down and make do with the supplies they had.

"It's going to be all right," said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

MORE ON SKYE: Isaac Stirs Painful Memories of Katrina

At 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) Monday, the National Hurricane Center reported that Isaac's top sustained winds had reached 70 mph (113 kph). A tropical system becomes a Category 1 hurricane once winds reach 74 mph (119 kph). The storm's center was located about 255 miles (415 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving northwest at 12 mph (19kph). Storm surge was considered a major threat.

Not everyone was waiting to see what happened. Shawanda Harris lost everything she owned when her New Orleans apartment was flooded during Katrina. On Monday, her neighborhood was packing up and leaving. She planned to caravan out of the city with relatives.

"People ain't taking chances now," she said.

She said Isaac was coming - just as Katrina did - at the end of the month, when many people are low on money.

"They got rent to pay. They got bills. Payday isn't until the end of the month, Friday," she said. "Right now, half our family got money. Some of our family got nothing. That's why we're leaving together."

VIDEO ON SKYE: Gas, Water in Short Supply as Isaac Nears

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, in a conference call with reporters earlier in the day, said people shouldn't focus just on New Orleans. "This is not a New Orleans storm. This is a Gulf Coast storm. Some of the heaviest impact may be in Alabama and Mississippi," he said.

If the storm hits during high tide, it could push floodwaters as deep as 12 feet (four meters) on shore in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and up to six feet (1.8 meters) in the Florida Panhandle.

The U.S. government said 78 percent of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been halted in preparation for Isaac. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said about 1 million barrels per day of oil production had been stopped as companies evacuated 346 offshore oil and gas production platforms.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

That's 17 percent of daily U.S. oil production and 6 percent of consumption. The agency said about 3 percent of daily U.S. natural gas production and consumption had also been affected. Production was expected to quickly resume after the storm passes.

Even though the storm was moving well west of Tampa, tropical storm-force winds and heavy rains were possible because of Isaac's large size, forecasters said. Republicans briefly gaveled their convention to order Monday afternoon and then recessed until Tuesday.

Before reaching Florida, Isaac was blamed for 19 deaths in Haiti and five more in the Dominican Republic, and it downed trees and power lines in Cuba.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Gulf Coast Prepares for Isaac

 

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Watch: Gas, Water in Short Supply as Isaac Nears

August 27, 2012, 2:57 am
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All Eyes on Isaac as Convention Approaches

August 27, 2012, 3:22 am
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A resident walks along the waterfront in between squalls blowing across the bay in Tampa, Fla. on Monday. (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mitt Romney's Republican National Convention sputters to life Monday with the lonely banging of a gavel in a mostly empty hall, then hits full speed on Tuesday, just as forecasters say Tropical Storm Isaac could reach hurricane strength and make landfall somewhere along a stretch from New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle.

"We've got a great convention ahead," Romney said from New Hampshire as he headed into a high school auditorium Monday morning to rehearse his convention speech, suggesting that there were no thoughts of canceling the gathering. He said he hopes those in the storm's path are "spared any major destruction."

Party Chairman Reince Preibus, for his part, insisted the GOP can "have a great week" despite the storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast.

But Sally Bradshaw, a Florida Republican and longtime senior aide to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was not so sanguine. "It's a mess all around and it's fraught with risk," she said. "It's not good for anybody - particularly the people impacted by the storm."

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

It was hardly the opening splash that convention planners had hoped for, and risked the juxtaposition of Republicans partying as the storm heads toward the gulf - almost exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

"Obviously we want to pray for anyone that's in the pathway of this storm," Priebus said Monday on NBC's "Today" show, "but the message is still the same: that all Americans deserve a better future and that this president ... didn't keep the promises he made in 2008."

The party hastily rewrote the convention script to present the extravaganza's prime rituals and headline speakers later in the week, and further changes were possible. Convention planners said Monday's speakers would be worked into the schedule later in the week.

It was a complication, at best, for a party determined to cast the close election as a referendum on President Barack Obama's economic stewardship and Romney as the best hope for jobs and prosperity.

The concern was two-fold: that Tampa, hosting thousands of GOP delegates, would get sideswiped by the storm; and that it would be unseemly to engage in days of political celebration if Isaac made a destructive landfall anywhere on U.S. soil.

"You can tone down the happy-days-are-here-again a bit," said Rich Galen, a veteran Republican consultant in Washington. "Maybe you don't have the biggest balloon drop in history."

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

Republicans hoped another distracting tempest would blow over, too, concerning abortion. The Obama campaign and its allies have doubled down in efforts to exploit remarks more than a week ago by Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP's candidate for a Senate seat from Missouri, that a woman's body has a way of preventing pregnancy in the case of a "legitimate rape." The claim is unsupported by medical evidence. The congressman quickly apologized but resisted Romney's pressure to drop out of the race.

Romney, in a Fox interview, said in comments broadcast Sunday that the fallout over Akin's remarks "hurts our party and I think is damaging to women," adding: "It really is sad, isn't it? With all the issues that America faces, for the Obama campaign to continue to stoop to such a low level."

In the reworked convention schedule released early Sunday evening, organizers planned a pro forma opening Monday afternoon, lasting no more than five minutes or so. Priebus was to gavel the convention to order, then immediately recess. Few delegates were expected to attend. In the only bit of convention-hall theater, a debt clock was to be set in motion, to tally the nation's red ink during the convention.

Speakers who had been scheduled for Monday were to start making the case against Obama, under the day's theme, "we can do better." That theme now will be threaded through the following three days, said Romney adviser Russ Schriefer, in charge of the convention's planning. "Even though the days will be abbreviated, I absolutely believe we'll be able to get our message out," he said.

The roll call of state delegations affirming Romney as the party's nominee now is to unfold Tuesday, an evening capped by speeches from Ann Romney and an assortment of GOP governors. Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, gets the prime-time spotlight Wednesday and Romney closes out the spectacle Thursday night, his springboard into the final leg of the contest. That's all if the storm brings no further complications.

So far, many delegates were taking the shakeup in stride. "People are pretty resilient, and people knew going in that there were some weather issues," said Pat Shortridge, the Minnesota state GOP chairman, from Lino Lakes, Minn. "I don't think it's dampened enthusiasm."

Weather was recognized as potential trouble when Republicans chose to hold their convention in politically vital Florida during hurricane season, a decision made well before Romney locked up the nomination. And it's clear that memories of Hurricane Katrina, and the failure of a Republican administration to respond effectively to its Gulf Coast devastation in 2005, are hanging over Tampa now. Republicans have been so sensitive to the political risks from natural disasters that they delayed the start of their national convention by a day in 2008, when Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf, far from their meeting in Minnesota.

And it surely wasn't lost on Tampa convention organizers that a gathering storm gave Obama an opportunity to show leadership. As the forecast worsened, the president directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help.

VIDEO ON SKYE: Isaac Forecasted to Hit Gulf Coast

"The president also told the governor to let him know if there are any unmet needs or additional resources the administration could provide, including in support of efforts to ensure the safety of those visiting the state for the Republican National Convention," the White House said Sunday.

Both sides grappled with how to conduct their politicking in the face of the storm. Vice President Joe Biden, who had been prepared to make as much political hay as possible over the Republican convention, canceled a campaign swing through Florida on Monday and Tuesday.

Polls find a tight race, and it's one that is likely to be settled in a small number of battleground states.

An estimated $500 million has been spent on television commercials so far by the two candidates, their parties and supporting outside groups, nearly all of it in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada. Those states account for 100 electoral votes out of the 270 needed to win the White House. Republicans hope to expand the electoral map to include Pennsylvania, Michigan, perhaps Ryan's Wisconsin and even Minnesota, states with 68 electoral votes combined.

All four are usually reliably Democratic in presidential campaigns. Yet Romney has a financial advantage over the president, according to the most recent fundraising reports, and a move by the Republicans into any of them could force Obama to dip into his own campaign treasury in regions he has considered relatively safe.

Republican office-holders past and present said the economy is the key if Romney is to expand his appeal to women and Hispanic voters.

"We have to point out that the unemployment rate among young women is now 16 percent, that the unemployment rate among Hispanics is very high, that jobs and the economy are more important, perhaps, than maybe other issues," said Arizona Sen. John McCain, who lost to Obama in 2008.

Bush agreed, saying that Romney "can make inroads if he focuses on how do we create a climate of job creation and economic growth." If he succeeds, "I think people will move back towards the Republican side," the former Florida governor added.

Obama leads Romney among female voters and by an overwhelming margin among Hispanics, but trails substantially among men.

RELATED ON SKYE: Photos: Tropical Storm Isaac Soaks Florida

 

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Photos: Gulf Coast Prepares for Isaac

August 27, 2012, 4:16 am
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    Tropical Storm Isaac is expected become a Category 1 hurricane as it churns over the Gulf, making landfall late Tuesday somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle. Governors in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi have declared states of emergency, and residents are preparing for the storm.

    Click through for photos.

    Billy Rusher loads plywood into his van at The Home Depot in Biloxi, Miss. on Sunday as he prepares for Isaac. 

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    Gulf Coast residents gather supplies in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac on Sunday at The Home Depot in Biloxi, Miss.

  • Coast residents gather supplies in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac on Sunday, August 26, 2012, at The Home Depot in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Mississippi Coast was placed under a hurricane warning Sunday afternoon.
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    Ocean Springs, Miss., resident Steve Miner secures an awning on his 20-foot Hunter sailboat at the Ocean Springs Harbor on Sunday. Miner was getting the boat ready to ride out the storm at the harbor.

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    Collen Lawrence helps his family make sand bags in Gulfport, Miss., on Sunday. The Harrison County Board of Supervisors provided sand so citizens could make their own sand bags.

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    Mississippi resident Charles Bartlett fills up gas containers on Sunday at Murphy Express gas station in Ocean Springs.

    "I remember after Katrina it was really hard to get gas," said Bartlett. "I don't expect it to be like that, but you never know."

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    Johnny Plair (right) helps Will McLeod fill sand bags for his mother's home in Gulfport, Miss., on Sunday.

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    A truck dumps a load of sand for people making sand bags in Gulfport, Miss., on Sunday.

  • MCT via Getty Images
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    Biloxi resident Stephanie Dale, left, holds her puppy, Sparky, on Sunday while filling out paperwork for the dog to be implanted with a microchip at the Humane Society of South Mississippi. The HSSM provides an emergency microchip and tag clinic in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac. Officials said that by the end of the weekend, they would have implanted around 400 microchips in pets from the South Mississippi area since Saturday morning.

  • AP Photo/David J. Phillip
    9 of 12

    Traffic is stacked up along Interstate 10 heading west away from New Orleans on Monday.

  • AP Photo/Press-Register, Mike Kittrell
    10 of 12

    Contractors work to remove the first of three barge haul units at the Pinto Terminal on Monday morning in Mobile, Ala., as the Alabama State Port Authority prepares for Tropical Storm Isaac. These one-of-kind units guide barges via remote control by the crane operator during ship unloading operations, and are valued at $2.5 million each.

  • AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
    11 of 12

    Workers move horses into trailers at the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots in New Orleans on Sunday after the track issued a mandatory evacuation of the animals.

  • AP Photo/David J. Phillip
    12 of 12
    Next: Photos: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean

    Larry Fabacher carries bags of ice to his New Orleans home as he prepares for Tropical Storm Isaac on Monday.

 

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Isaac's Threats: From Flooding to Downed Power Lines

August 27, 2012, 10:01 am
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Aug. 27, 2012, 5:21 p.m. ET


Some residence are boarding up their homes while others have chosen not to take Isaac seriously in Gulf Shores, Ala. on Monday. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

By Kevin McGill

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - With its massive size and ponderous movement, Isaac could become a punishing rain machine depending on its strength, speed and where it comes ashore along the Gulf Coast.

The focus has been on New Orleans as Isaac takes dead aim at the city seven years after Hurricane Katrina, but the impact will be felt well beyond the city limits. The storm's winds could be felt more than 200 miles from the storm's center.

The Gulf Coast region has been saturated thanks to a wet summer, and some officials have worried more rain could make it easy for trees and power lines to topple in the wet ground. Too much water also could flood crops, and wind could topple plants like corn and cotton.

"A large, slow-moving system is going to pose a lot of problems - winds, flooding, storm surge and even potentially down the road river flooding," said Richard Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "That could happen for days after the event."

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

The storm's potential for destruction was not lost on Alabama farmer Bert Driskell, who raises peanuts, cotton, wheat, cattle and sod on several thousand acres near Grand Bay, in Mobile County.

"We don't need a lot of water this close to harvest," Driskell said.

However, Isaac could bring some relief to places farther inland where farmers have struggled with drought. It also may help replenish a Mississippi River that has at times been so low that barge traffic is halted so engineers can scrap the bottom to deepen it.

Forecasters predicted Isaac would intensify into a Category 1 hurricane later Monday or Tuesday with top sustained winds of between 74 and 95 mph. The center of its projected path took Isaac directly toward New Orleans on Wednesday, but hurricane warnings extended across some 330 miles from Morgan City, La., to Destin, Fla. It could become the first hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast since 2008.

Evacuations were ordered for some low-lying areas and across the region, people boarded up homes, stocked up on supplies and got ready for the storm. Schools, universities and businesses closed in many places.

Still, all the preparation may not matter if the great danger becomes flooding. In Pascagoula, Miss., Nannette Clark was supervising a work crew installing wood coverings over windows of her more than 130-year-old home. But she said all that won't matter if a storm surge reaches her home, as it did after Katrina in 2005.

"The water was up to the first landing of the stairs," she said. "So I get very nervous about it."

Isaac's approach coinciding with the Katrina anniversary invited obvious comparisons, but Isaac is nowhere near as powerful as the Katrina was when it struck on Aug. 29, 2005. Katrina at one point reached Category 5 status with winds of over 157 mph. It made landfall over Louisiana as a Category 3 storm and created a huge storm surge.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said the updated levees around New Orleans are equipped to handle storms stronger than Isaac. Levee failures led to the catastrophic flooding in the area after Katrina.

"It's a much more robust system than what it was when Katrina came ashore," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in a conference call with reporters.

In New Orleans, officials had no plans to order evacuations and instead told residents to hunker down and make do with the supplies they had.

"It's going to be all right," said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Isaac could pack a watery double punch for the Gulf Coast. If it hits during high tide, Isaac could push floodwaters as deep as 12 feet onto shore in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and up to 6 feet in the Florida Panhandle, while dumping up to 18 inches of rain over the region, the National Weather Service warned.

As of 2 p.m. EDT on Monday, Isaac remained a tropical storm with top sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). Its center was about 280 miles (450 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it was moving northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

On the Alabama coast, Billy Cannon, 72, was preparing to evacuate with several cars packed with family and four Chihuahuas from a home on a peninsula in Gulf Shores. Canon, who has lived on the coast for 30 years, said he thinks the order to evacuate Monday was premature.

"If it comes in, it's just going to be a big rain storm. I think they overreacted, but I understand where they're coming from. It's safety," he said.

The storm that left 24 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic blew past the Florida Keys with little damage and promised a soaking but little more for Tampa, where the planned Monday start of the Republican National Convention was pushed back a day in case Isaac passed closer to the bayside city.

Only a fraction of an expected 5,000 demonstrators turned out in Tampa to protest GOP economic and social policies outside the convention. Organizers blamed Isaac and a massive police presence for their weak showing.

VIDEO ON SKYE: Gas, Water in Short Supply as Isaac Nears

The storm had lingering effects for much of Florida, including heavy rains and isolated flooding in Miami and points north. Gov. Rick Scott said that as of noon Monday, about 60,000 customers were without power in Florida as a result of the storm.

Scott, a Republican, was returning from the convention in Tampa to Tallahassee to monitor Isaac. Fellow Gulf Coast Republican Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Robert Bentley of Alabama said they would not attend the convention at all. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant delayed his travel through Wednesday, leaving open the possibility he could attend the final day of the event.

States of emergency were in effect in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

The choppy ocean waters generated by Isaac weren't all bad for everyone, though. On Pensacola Bay, fishermen boasted big hauls.

"You get a little storm headed this way and they seem to run a little. When the barometric pressure drops, something causes them to run better," said Eric Roberts, who was out fishing for mullet.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Gulf Coast Prepares for Isaac

 

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Isaac Stirs Painful Memories of Katrina

August 27, 2012, 10:18 am
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Aug. 27, 2012


A man pushes his bicycle through flood waters near the Superdome in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left much of the city under water in August 2005. Katrina'’s legacy looms large as Isaac heads toward New Orleans. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

By Cain Burdeau and Stacey Plaisance

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - As she loaded supplies into her car to prepare for Isaac, Linda Grandison's mind rewound to the nightmare of Katrina: Back in 2005, she had to flee her family's flooded home and waited on a bridge for more than three days before being rescued by helicopter.

Although Isaac is far less powerful than the historic hurricane that crippled New Orleans, the system was on an eerily similar path and forecast to make landfall on the seventh anniversary of Katrina, raising familiar fears and old anxieties in a city still recovering from a near-mortal blow seven years ago.

This time, Grandison is not taking any chances. She will stay with her mother in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna, which did not flood in Katrina. The house has a generator to keep the refrigerator running if power goes out, and she has enough charcoal to grill out for days.

SEE ON SKYE: Isaac's Projected Path

"You can't predict God's work. This is nerve-wracking," she said. "I hate leaving my house, worrying if it's going to flood or get looted. But I'm not going to stay in the city again."

If Isaac comes ashore here, it will find a different city than the one blasted by Katrina. This New Orleans has a bigger, better levee system and other improvements designed to endure all but the most destructive storms. Many neighborhoods have rebuilt. Some remain desolate, filled with empty, dilapidated homes.



The Army Corps of Engineers was given about $14 billion to improve flood defenses, and most of the work has been completed. Experts say the city can handle a storm comparable to a Category 3 hurricane. Isaac is expected to come ashore as early as Tuesday night as a Category 1 storm, striking anywhere from west of New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said he understood residents' worries, but tried to reassure them that the city was prepared.

"I think everything will be OK," he said.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Isaac Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

But people in this city aren't easily soothed because they've never forgotten the images of families stranded at the decrepit Louisiana Superdome, people begging for help at the convention center and President Bush's back-slapping congratulatory remarks to then-FEMA Director Michael Brown.

Shawanda Harris lost everything she owned when her ground-floor apartment in low-lying eastern New Orleans was flooded during Katrina. She was on the phone with family and friends Monday as she waited for the latest update on Isaac from the mayor. The neighborhood was packing up and leaving.

Harris planned to caravan out of the city with relatives and head inland to another family house outside New Orleans.

"People ain't taking chances now," she said, keeping an eye on a television that was swarmed with the radar images of Isaac looming over the Gulf of Mexico.

Harris said the preparations were bringing back a lot of unease and heartache reminiscent of 2005.

MORE ON SKYE: Isaac Takes Aim at Gulf Coast

"It was scary. My whole family was separated. They couldn't find me. The Red Cross had called and told my mom that they found me dead," she recalled.

She said Isaac was coming - just as Katrina did - at the end of the month, when many people are low on money.

"They got rent to pay. They got bills. Payday isn't until the end of the month, Friday," she said. "Right now, half our family got money. Some of our family got nothing. That's why we're leaving together."

Others tried to have confidence that the city was prepared and that the levees would hold.

"I'm not kidding myself. We're going to have wind, going to have water. But not Katrina destruction. I think things are going to hold," said Erin Ogg, who planned to ride out the storm at her New Orleans home.

Joyce Ridgeway still hadn't made up her mind whether to stay or go. She stopped at Walmart to pick up water and snacks to be prepared either way.

"It doesn't look like Katrina," she said. "It doesn't even have that same urgency that Katrina had. We were feeling kind of urgently that we needed to get out for Katrina. That's not the case with this storm."

In the quiet coastal town of Long Beach, Miss., Brenda Johns and her neighbor, Willie Shook, took time Monday to pray that Isaac won't deal the devastating blow that Hurricane Katrina did. Then they got busy boarding up their homes. The women are two of only three people who rebuilt on their street after Katrina wiped their neighborhood away.

One of the only things Shook recovered was a dress, which she found still on a hanger in tree near her destroyed house.

"Katrina changed a lot of people, for good or bad," said Shook, a retired assistant principal. "It changed me for the better. It showed me that we don't really own anything. God gives it to us, and he can take it away. I'm at peace."

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Gulf Coast Prepares for Isaac

 

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Zen and the Art of Hurricane Forecasting

September 10, 2012, 7:13 am
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Tropical Storm Leslie as it passed over Bermuda Sunday, Sept. 10. (NASA)

We just published a list of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. The worst, it turns out, was a Category 4 storm that barreled through the Caribbean in September 1900. After the storm hit Cuba, American forecasters predicted it would sweep northeast up the mid-Atlantic coast. Instead, it headed west and slammed into Galveston, Texas. Few had evacuated, and roughly 8,000 people were killed.

Since then, hurricane prediction has come a long way. How long, exactly?

Writes Nate Silver in The New York Times:

A quarter-century ago, for instance, the average error in a hurricane forecast, made three days in advance of landfall, was about 350 miles. That meant that if you had a hurricane sitting in the Gulf of Mexico, it might just as easily hit Houston or Tallahassee, Fla. -- essentially the entire Gulf Coast was in play, making evacuation and planning all but impossible.

Today, although there are storms like Hurricane Isaac that are tricky for forecasters, the average miss is much less: only about 100 miles.

Silver's new book, "The Signal and the Noise," looks at forecasting across a range of fields, from sports and weather to economics. Compared to other kinds of predictions, he found, weather forecasts are surprisingly accurate.

RELATED ON SKYE: The Most Devastating Hurricanes in U.S. History

 

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Holding Up the Moon: 23 Ridiculously Well-Posed Photos

September 10, 2012, 11:52 am
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Newfoundland Braces for Tropical Storm Leslie

September 10, 2012, 1:00 pm
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This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 shows Tropical Storm Leslie as it moves northward towards Newfoundland.

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP) - Canadians along the East Coast loaded up on emergency supplies and secured patio furniture before the arrival of Tropical Storm Leslie, which is expected to make landfall Tuesday in Newfoundland, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Monday.

The center said Leslie could make landfall as a hurricane or a strong tropical storm.

Forecaster Bob Robichaud said wind gusts could reach up to 49 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) in the Cape Breton area and up to 62 mph (100 kph) over the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland.

Robichaud said Leslie is gaining strength as it moves over warm waters, but its massive size may prevent it from reaching hurricane status.

"If it was a smaller storm, there would most definitely be strengthening and we'd almost certainly have a hurricane at landfall," he said. "But given the size of the storm, it takes a lot more to spin it up."

Fire and Emergency Services worked to ensure culverts were cleared and shored up resources to ensure crews are ready to deal with the storm.

Department spokeswoman Cheryl Gullage said citizens have been asked to ensure water pumps are in working order, drains are free of debris and window and door wells are clean. The department also asked Newfoundlanders to remove dead branches from trees and secure patio furniture, barbeque equipment and yard tools.

Patricia Devine, of Clarenville in southeastern Newfoundland, nervously hunkered down just two years after Hurricane Igor caused more than CA$25,000 (US$25,600) in flood damage to her home.

"All over this town trees were down, an awful lot of people got flooded basements. Oh, it was awful," she said. "In fact, I'm very nervous. I'm saying a lot of prayers."

She was among many residents who spent the day buying food, water and gasoline, checking sump pumps, preparing generators and making sure they had flashlights, batteries and emergency contact numbers at hand.

Marine Atlantic said it is cancelling ferries between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Red Cross spokesman Dan Bedell said supplies and additional people have been taken to the Burin Peninsula, on the south coast of the island, which is where Hurricane Igor pounded Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane almost two years ago. Igor dumped 200 millimeters (8 inches) of rain and caused CA$200 million (US$204 million) in damages. The hurricane was also blamed for the death of one man.

"Our teams have gone through a similar experience for Igor and the current forecast for this storm is tracking in approximately the same area, but it has very wide effects this time so we're seeing flooding from one end of the province to the other. If that continues, we'll likely have to evacuate that area tomorrow," Bedell said.

Newfoundland's Municipal Affairs Minister Kevin O'Brien said 95 percent of municipalities and regions in the province now have emergency preparedness plans because of Igor.

Nasty weather hit Atlantic Canada before Leslie's arrival.

The hurricane center said a trough of low pressure had already dumped 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain on parts of western and central Nova Scotia by Monday morning, with more yet to come as Leslie approaches.

Evacuation orders were issued for Truro, Nova Scotia, where sheets of heavy rain swamped two rivers, leading to flooding and evacuations in Colchester County.

Weather warnings were in place for Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Bob Taylor, mayor of the Municipality of the County of Colchester, said dikes in both rivers gave way, flooding some roads in and out of Truro and the village of Bible Hill.

Taylor said some people were asked to leave their homes voluntarily, but only a few did so.

He said a high school near Salmon River was evacuated before lunchtime as a precaution.

The Mounties in Nova Scotia warned drivers to slow down after receiving reports of flooding on some roads.

Leslie was located about 366 miles (590 kilometers) northeast of Bermuda by mid-Monday morning.

Leslie's outer bands buffeted Bermuda on Sunday with gusty winds and rain but caused little damage.

Far out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Michael was forecast to weaken to a tropical storm by Tuesday.

RELATED ON SKYE: The Most Devastating Hurricanes in U.S. History

 

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