Leaders across much of the Caribbean closed schools and government offices on Wednesday and urged people to stay at home as Tropical Storm Isaac swept toward the region, threatening to soon become a hurricane and perhaps eventually to menace Florida. According to AP, the storm was 140 miles (230 kilometers) east of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe late Wednesday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). Isaac was moving west at 21 mph (33 kph) and was expected to become a hurricane by Thursday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. In Dominica, one of the first islands in the storm's path, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit urged people to stay home from work on Wednesday.
