From the National Hurricane Center:
DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE CONTINUED TO INCREASE AND ARE NOW NEAR 120 MPH...195 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. GUSTAV IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. GUSTAV IS EXPECTED TO PASS OVER WESTERN CUBA AS A MAJOR HURRICANE...AND COULD REACH CATEGORY FOUR STATUS BEFORE MAKING LANDFALL THERE. ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICOAnd, the latest projected track has it hitting the coast of Louisiana in the very early hours of Tuesday:
Scott McClellan thinks this good be good for the Republican Party. Seriously:
"If it's a major hurricane, I think that they certainly need to show they learned lessons from three years ago, both from a policy and perception standpoint," McClellan said.
He also suggested that McCain could benefit politically from such a scenario: It would allow Bush to mount an effective GOP response to a disaster while removing the unpopular president from the convention roster.
"It could be a two-fer," McClellan said.
