Isaias strengthens to Category 2 hurricane while churning toward US Gulf Coast

MIAMI (AP) – Hurricane Isaias strengthened to Category 2 on Thursday as it barreled toward the US Gulf Coast, prompting orders for tourists to trade beaches for safer spots inland, sending locals scurrying for gas and groceries, and leading fishing crews to secure their boats before the destructive storm's arrival.

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season was forecast to intensify rapidly and cause dangerous conditions in the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi when it makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Heavy rain and flooding were possible into the weekend as far north as Tennessee and North Carolina.

"We are expecting Isaias to be a dangerous hurricane when it makes landfall," Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said on Thursday.

He added: "Today is the day to prepare and get ready and be in your safe place by tomorrow as conditions will rapidly deteriorate along the northern Gulf Coast as Isaias approaches."

The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph (140 kph) and was moving east-northeast at 10 mph (17 kph) as of early Thursday afternoon, the hurricane center said. It was centered about 355 miles (570 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

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