Beach vacationers in the Carolinas packed up and headed inland Friday and authorities in the Florida Keys ordered the beginning of evacuations there as two storms threatened the U.S. East Coast.

Ike is still far out in the Atlantic, but it's getting a close look from those who weathered 1992's Andrew, the devastating Category 5 storm against which all other Florida hurricanes are measured.

Fragile barrier islands from Texas to New England take a beating, especially during hurricane season, that cause their beachfronts to wash away and gradually return with the tides. Yet authorities spend large sums to "fix" them by replenishing sand.

Haitian police found 495 corpses when muddy floodwaters began to recede on Friday from the port city of Gonaives following days of heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hanna, an official said.

The U.S.  has offered Cuba in emergency aid for the victims of Hurricane Gustav and is willing to send far more if a U.S.-approved disaster assessment team is allowed in for assessment.

The federal government says it will pay hotel expenses for some of the nearly 2 million Gustav evacuees, but exactly who will be eligible and how much it will cost taxpayers is uncertain.