GORDON BECOMES HURRICANE, HEADS EAST

Tropical storm Gordon, which killed at least 531 people in Haiti and four people in Florida, whipped itself into a hurricane today before heading up the Atlantic coast and out to sea today. This afternoon, the hurricane's 75-mph winds swirled 325 miles off Cape Hatteras and forecasters expected no immediate threat to U.S. shores. (It could, however, shift back toward land anywhere up to New England, they said.) Meanwhile, says TIME Miami Bureau Chief Cathy Booth, Gordon's lesser incarnation swamped 35,000 acres of cropland in Florida's Dade County -- destroying about half the U.S. winter vegetable crop and ensuring skyrocketing prices. About 550 homes were also damaged.