WASHINGTON -- Tropical Storm Gustav gained strength on Thursday as it skirted Jamaica.

The National Hurricane Center projected the storm will strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane and could make landfall anywhere from Texas to the Florida panhandle early next week.

Federal response was being coordinated in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Emergency response coordinators at the Federal Emergency Management Association headquarters said they will not repeat the failures made after Hurricane Katrina.

On the eve of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast braced for the possibility of a hard hit by Tropical Storm Gustav.

"(It's) not an occasion for panic, but an occasion to put into practice all of the preparations that have been done up to now," said Department of Homeland Security Sec. Michael Chertoff.

Chertoff flew to Louisiana to meet on Thursday with state and local officials.

"Eyeball to eyeball to make sure that they've done everything they can given the time they have to have the infrastructure as secure as possible," he said.

Inside FEMA headquarters in Washington, the National Response Coordination Center was on a heightened state of readiness. The center is one of the nerve centers handling the federal response.

At the White House, President George W. Bush is getting regular briefings.

"We want to make sure that we are prepositioning any federal assets that those state and local governments think they need," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

FEMA said it has prepositioned supplies in the Gulf Coast states, including 137 truckloads of water, four million meals and hundreds of emergency generators, tarps, blankets and cots. The agency sought to reassure nervous residents who said they're skeptical that the agency will get it right this time.

"They're there now," FEMA representative Dan Stoneking said. "You don't have to call FEMA and say, 'Please come.' You just have to turn to your left or your right and FEMA's there."

The Department of Defense said it has put in place the equipment it would need to carry out search and rescue operations, which is something that wasn't done before Hurricane Katrina.

Meanwhile, Republican National Convention organizers held emergency talks on Wednesday to go over several contingency scenarios, but so far they haven't said what the plan is.

Bush is scheduled to speak opening night on Monday, and the White House said so far that's still the plan.

Louisiana's governor said he will be staying home to deal with the storm.

On the heels of Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna has formed northeast of Puerto Rico. It's the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.