Hurricane Ike slammed into the Turks and Caicos on Saturday as an "extremely dangerous"  Category 4 storm. Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast watched Ike's approach with apprehension.

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.

Hundreds of people fled Gonaives, Haiti, on Saturday for higher ground as powerful Hurricane Ike threatened to unleash heavy rain and compound a disaster caused by a previous storm.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said Friday that he is unlikely to delay plans for an important test in North Carolina that could disrupt television service for some viewers in the path of Tropical Storm Hanna.

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.

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.