Tropical Storm Isaac is churning through Atlantic waters at 16 miles per hour on a WNW path and is expected to make landfall on the south coast of the Dominican Republic Thursday night. A hurricane warning is in effect for the nations of Dominican Republic and Haiti and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has advised that preparations for the storm be expedited to avoid excessive damage.
As of 5:00 AST, Isaac was approximately 180 miles SSW of San Juan, Puerto Rico and 225 miles SE of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Maximum sustained winds are currently at 40 miles per hour and are expected to strengthen over the next 48 hours.
The NHC reports that since its last update the government of the Bahamas has upgraded to a tropical storm warning for the southeastern area of the nation and Cuba has issued a tropical storm watch. Tropical storm warnings are also in effect for the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is advised that Jamaica, South Florida and the Florida keys monitor the progress of Isaac closely and brace themselves should the storm path threaten these areas.
In terms of a timeline, tropical storm conditions are possible over portions of Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands Thursday evening. Hurricane conditions are possible over portions of the Dominican Republic early on Friday and parts of Haiti later on in the day. Tropical storm conditions are expected over the southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos late on Friday and possible over Southeastern Cuba by Saturday.
Total expected rainfall is estimated at 8 to 12 inches and up to 20 inches over Hispaniola. The storm surge will raise water levels by 3 to 5 feet and will be accompanied by dangerous waves. Dangerous surf and rip currents will affect the entire area for at least the next couple of days.
The NHC will issue its next intermediate storm advisory at 8:00 AST and its next complete advisory at 11:00 AST.
Tropical Storm Isaac could become a hurricane by Friday before reaching the island of Hispaniola the NHC advised on Thursday.
Organizers of the Republican National Convention in Tampa continued on high alert as Isaac makes its way across the Caribbean. On Wednesday, convention spokesman Kyle Downey told CNN, "We're monitoring the situation very closely. We are working closely with state, federal and local officials and plan on putting on a great convention."
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, however, told CNN he wasn't worried about Isaac reaching the city. "We're watching it. We're tracking it. I think we're going to be OK but we'll be prepared in the event it heads this way."
The Republican National Convention, which is set to begin on Monday, will officially nominate Mitt Romney as its presidential candidate.
Latinospost.com will continue to keep readers posted as the storm progresses.
(Contributions: Nicole Rojas)
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