The tropical storm is expected to continue traveling northwest, and after emerging north of Cuba it is likely to impact the Gulf Coast. Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore reports wind off the coast of South Florida's Biscayne Bay could cause flooding.
By NBC News and wire services
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- At least two people died in Haiti as Tropical Storm Isaac triggered mudslides and flooding there before heading back over water and towards Cuba. Isaac should become a hurricane on Sunday just as it nears the Florida Keys, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
"Hurricane conditions are expected in the hurricane warning area in southwest Florida and the Florida Keys on Sunday," the center said in a Saturday morning advisory.
In Haiti,??a woman and a child in the town of Souvenance were killed in the storm, a local official reported.
The capital Port-au-Prince, where some 350,000 people are still living in tents or shelters after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, was faring better. While heavy rain pushed rocks and mud into tent cities, no deaths or major damage were reported.
Cuba prepared by closing beaches and evacuating tourists in vulnerable areas, NBC's Mary Murray and The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reported from Havana. Flights across Cuba were also suspended.?
In Baracoa, a city on Cuba's eastern side, high seas began topping the seawall Friday night, Radio Baracoa reported.?
Now with 60 mph winds, Isaac should exit Cuba on Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane and then move south of the Florida Keys and into the Gulf.
Those considered most vulnerable were urged to move into an evacuation camp housed in a school building, but others with nowhere else to go were digging trenches to avoid the water. Haiti's population remains especially vulnerable due to the country's sprawling shanty towns. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
Republicans are preparing to gather in Tampa, on Florida's central Gulf Coast, for Monday's start of their national convention ahead of the November presidential election.
The convention is expected to proceed as planned but Gulf of Mexico operators began shutting down offshore oil and gas rigs on Friday ahead of the storm.?
Follow Isaac's path with our storm tracker
Live updates and analysis from weather.com
Transcript of weather.com experts answering Isaac questions
Tampa's weather forecast includes rain and high winds Sunday night and into Monday, The Weather Channel reported. The winds could gust up to 60 mph.
Monday and Tuesday include a risk of tornadoes across south Florida.?
Isaac's exact path is still unclear, but the hurricane center said models suggest it will make landfall somewhere?between the Florida Panhandle and New Orleans.
The storm's anticipated path did shift closer to the Keys than previously forecast and emergency managers urged tourists to leave the islands if they could do so safely. A single road links the chain of islands to the Florida Peninsula.?
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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