CNN news 2012-08-28 加文本

cnn news 2012-08-28

Isaac is the name of a storm making its way to the Caribbean Sea. On Thursday, it was a tropical storm. But forecasters think it could become a hurricane sometime today. That`s also when Isaac is expected to hit Hispaniola, the island made up of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. More than 400,000 Haitians live in tent camps like this, because of an earthquake that hit the country in 2010. Officials are worried about the danger this storm could pose for the camps and all of Haiti. Rob Marciano has more on Isaac`s path.

It`s got a big circulation, it`s got a lot of water to contend with here, to tap into. So, we think it`s going to intensify. The Island of Hispaniola is going to get very, very hard with potentially hurricane force winds and heavier rainfall, and you are talking about a country that has hundreds of the thousands people with questionable shelter that`s going to be an issue of potentially with mud slides. Here is the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center that does intensify it, and brings it over Hispaniola, notably right over Port- au-Prince, Haiti during the day on Friday, and then again on Saturday, and then likely knocking a little bit of its punch, because these very mountainous areas take some of the steam out of it, so what shape it will be in, when it reemerges in the Florida Straits and potentially, the Gulf of Mexico Sunday night into Monday? That`s really unknown as well. And then when it gets into the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, how much more is it going to strengthen? But notice a forecast track does bring it very, very close to Tampa.

All right, Rob mentioned Tampa because that city is hosting the Republican National Convention next week. And we don`t know for sure where Isaac will hit. When forecasters predict the path of the storm, they use what`s called "a cone of uncertainty." It`s just this range where the storm could go.

This is the building where the Republican convention will be happening. If Isaac hits Tampa, and if it`s strong enough, the building might have to be evacuated. Republican officials say they are working on backup plans, but added that they won`t let weather stop them from making Mitt Romney the party`s official presidential nominee next week.