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Tropical Storm Isaac starts lashing Florida Keys

KEY WEST, Fla. — 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, 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.

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.”

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.

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 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 southeast of Key West, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Isaac had top sustained winds of 60 mph.

It was moving to the west-northwest toward the Keys at 18 mph.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the storm has climbed to nine after authorities in the Dominican Republic reported two deaths Sunday.

Authorities have already reported seven deaths in Haiti, the impoverished country that shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Early Sunday afternoon, Dominican police reported that two men were swept away by flooded rivers that had burst their banks. One of the victims was identified as Pedro Peralta, a former mayor in Villa Altagracia, a town northwest of the capital of Santo Domingo. His body was recovered Sunday by rescuers on the banks of the Haina River.

Another male victim, whose identity was not disclosed, was swept away by the Yaguaza River, according to Dominican police.

In neighboring Haiti, Joseph Edgard Celestin of Haiti’s Civil Protection Office offered few details Sunday on how each person died in that country but noted that one man was swept away as he tried to cross a river in a village in northern Haiti.

In a separate report, Haiti’s Civil Protection Office said a 51-year-old woman was killed in the southern coastal town of Marigot after a tree fell on her home. A 10-year-old girl was killed in the village of Thomazeau after a wall collapsed on her.

The number of people evacuated due to flooding also rose. More than 14,000 people have left their homes throughout Haiti and another 13,500 people were living in temporary shelters, the Civil Protection Office reported. Some 8,400 evacuees were in the country’s western department, the most populous and where the capital of Port-au-Prince is located.

A dozen houses were destroyed and another 269 damaged, the Haitian government reported. Four people were injured, including a man who fell from a tree.

Impoverished Haiti is prone to flooding and mudslides because much of the country is heavily deforested and rainwater rushes down barren mountainsides.

The center of Tropical Storm Isaac passed Haiti’s southern peninsula early Saturday.