WHITE HOUSE (CNN) - President Obama has continued to get updates on Tropical Storm Isaac as it bears down on the Gulf Coast. The storm is expected to become a Category 1 hurricane and take much of the same path as Hurricane Katrina did exactly seven years ago.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Rick Knabb updated the president with reports of where FEMA has prepositioned resources around the Gulf Coast ahead of the storm. FEMA response teams are working with the Defense Department to set up bases in Jacksonville, Florida and Montgomery, AL to stage disaster supplies for affected areas. Also teams are in four states- Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi- in anticipation of the storm's landfall.

President Obama also called several state and local officials to express the federal government's support. He spoke with Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

The White House also released a federal emergency disaster declaration for Louisiana ahead of Tropical Storm Isaac which makes federal funding available for preparing and responding to the storm.