TAMPA, Fla. — All Isaac needs to do is come close to Tampa to bring a lot of problems to the Republican National Convention. Even during an average summer thunderstorm in this area, major roads can flood.

When a tropical storm raked the Tampa Bay area in June, thousands of homes and businesses lost power, tornadoes spun off and streets and bridges were closed as the storm was blamed for seven deaths statewide. It’s still too early to say where Isaac will end up, but officials are closely watching the storm and say they’re ready to make any decisions, if needed, about evacuations or cancellations as 70,000 delegates, journalists and protesters descend on the city.

“Public safety will always trump politics,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said. “And so my job, and our job, if we move into that mode, is to make sure we get people out of harm’s way. I don’t care whether they’re anarchists or they’re delegates.”

The current forecast has Isaac strengthening into a hurricane tonight and heading toward south Florida, arriving around Monday, the opening day of the convention and nearly a week of parties, speeches and other events culminating with the coronation of Mitt Romney.

The storm was still hundreds of miles from the tip of Florida on Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Forecasters warned there was still a great deal of uncertainty with Isaac, and it could miss the state altogether.

“The storm is so far away at this point, the cone of error from this point out is tremendous,” said Florida Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon, who has been in constant contact with RNC officials about the storm.

Koon has been coordinating security and convention planning with party officials for more than a year. He said there was no reason out-of-state visitors should cancel their plans, and RNC officials were so far echoing that advice.

The last hurricane to strike Tampa was Hurricane Jeanne in 2004. The Category 1 storm moved across the state toward Tampa, weakening along the way. It still knocked down trees and power lines, and damaged buildings.