THE FUSE

Hurricane Isaias strengthened into a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds near 105 miles per hour (165 kilometers per hour) late Thursday, and hurricane warnings now stretch from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County line in the Florida Panhandle. In its 10 p.m. CDT public advisory, the National Hurricane Center placed the storm about 260 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving northeast at 14 mph. Forecasters expect landfall somewhere within the warning area late Friday or early Saturday.