UPDATE: Tropical Storm Isaac is Churning in the Gulf Along Katrina’s Path [VIDEO]

Tropical Storm Isaac isn’t a hurricane yet but will be soon according to the National Hurricane Center.

A tropical storm becomes a Category 1 hurricane when winds reach 74 mph. Isaac’s top sustained winds have reached 70 mph as of 5 p.m. today.

According to CBS News consultant David Bernard, by the time it makes landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday, maximum sustained winds will be up to 100 mph. Predictions indicate that the storm will run right over New Orleans.

Video from ABC News

A hurricane warning is in effect from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida line — an area covering 5 million people. East of the state line to Destin, Fla., hurricane forecasters have now posted a tropical storm warning.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says that anxiety is high, “The timing of this storm coming on, as fate would have it, the anniversary of Katrina, has everybody in a state and sense of alertness and that is a good thing,” he said Sunday.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and said he’s “strongly advising” people in low lying areas of coastal Louisiana to evacuate ahead of the storm. St. Charles Parish officials told the parish’s 53,000 residents to leave ahead of the storm.

Jindal said, “There is a 70 to 80 percent chance we’ll have tropical storm winds in southeast Louisiana and again as it moves west you’ll see more of our state could potentially be covered, by those wind warnings.”

Via [CNS News]