Edouard could become a hurricane Tuesday

(CNN) -- The winds of Tropical Storm Edouard were reaching the coast of Louisiana Monday afternoon and could be near hurricane strength as the eye of the storm gets near land Tuesday, forecasters said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River west to Port O'Connor, Texas. The warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning area within 24 hours.

A hurricane watch -- which means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours -- was in effect from west of Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to Port O'Connor.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, in its 8 p.m. ET advisory, said the storm, "is expected to be very near hurricane strength by the time it reaches the coastline during the day tomorrow."

The U.S. Census Bureau on Monday said more than 5.4 million people could be affected by the storm, which started as a depression in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday afternoon.

But Edouard seemed to be causing few problems in the Gulf of Mexico, where employees on thousands of oil rigs and platforms produce and search for oil. The price of oil dropped $3.69 Monday to settle at $121.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.