After dumping intense rain and bringing strong winds to Haiti and Cuba on Saturday, Tropical Storm Isaac picked up steam -- and promised to pick up strength -- as it spun toward Florida.

The storm left at least two people dead in the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti, pounding camps where hundreds of thousands of people live in tents.

As the Haitian government and outside agencies continued to assess the damage, the focus surrounding Isaac increasingly turned toward Florida, much like the storm itself.

Isaac was roughly 65 miles northeast of Camaguey, Cuba, and 340 miles east-southeast of Key West by late Saturday, moving at about 17 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm system is expected to gain strength and become a hurricane by early Monday as it moves past the Florida Keys and into the Gulf of Mexico.

After barreling north -- affecting Florida's western coast along the way -- the storm is expected to pack 100 mph sustained winds by the time it makes landfall sometime late Tuesday afternoon or early evening on the Florida Panhandle, likely near Panama City, according to forecasters.

That progression prompted Republican Party officials in Tampa to effectively push back Monday's scheduled start of the Republican National Convention one day, hoping the move will make it safer and easier for delegates to attend. Tropical storm conditions could first be felt there by late Sunday, and by late Monday afternoon and early evening, Isaac's eye should be west of the coastal city.

Florida's governor, Rick Scott, insisted Saturday that his state will be ready for whatever happens.

"This is a state that has dealt with hurricanes forever," he told reporters Saturday in Broward County. "We are a state that we know we have to get prepared for hurricanes."

As preparations continue, authorities in Haiti spent Saturday assessing Isaac's aftermath.

The country is still recovering from a devastating earthquake that struck more than two years ago, and its challenges are compounded by the fact it is led by a relatively new government with limited resources. All that said, the top U.N. humanitarian official in the nation praised the initial response efforts.