Isaac brings heavy rain to Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Tropical Storm Isaac churned toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti yesterday, threatening to strengthen into a hurricane that could take a shot at Florida just as the Republicans gather for their national convention.

The storm dumped heavy rain across eastern and southern Puerto Rico and whipped up waves as high as 10 feet in the Caribbean as it moved through the region.

U.S. forecasters said Isaac could become a Category 1 hurricane today as it approaches the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It was expected to weaken a little while crossing over Haiti and the eastern two-thirds of Cuba.

The storm was projected to head toward Florida as a hurricane by Monday, but the National Hurricane Center in Miami said some forecast models predict it could go farther west into the Gulf of Mexico, so "significant uncertainty remains about the threat Isaac poses to Florida."

Isaac was centered 210 miles southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday evening, and its maximum sustained winds had strengthened a bit to 45 mph.

The approach of the storm led military authorities at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to cancel pretrial hearings for five prisoners charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. They also evacuated about 200 people.

Isaac also posed a threat to next week's Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., where 70,000 delegates, journalists and protesters are expected. Convention officials said they were working with state and federal authorities on monitoring the storm. "We continue to move forward with our planning and look forward to a successful convention," convention chief executive William Harris said.