In the Wake of Gustav Comes Hurricane Hanna

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos, Sept. 1 -- Hurricane Hanna stalled for hours over the southeastern Bahamas on Monday, lashing the islands with fierce winds and rain. Forecasters said it could threaten the southeastern United States by midweek.

Hanna, with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph, lingered for much of the day near Mayaguana and nearby islands in the southeast Bahamas.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage, but Stephen Russell, interim director of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency, said he was "quite certain there is going to be damage, particularly in Mayaguana."

Hanna also was bringing strong winds, heavy rain and pounding surf to nearby islands, including Inagua and Crooked Island, and the Turks and Caicos Islands to the south. It was expected to hit the southeastern U.S. later in the week.

NASA announced a delay of at least one day in the planned move of the space shuttle Atlantis from an assembly building at Florida's Kennedy Space Center to the launchpad.

The move had been scheduled for Tuesday in preparation for an October mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ike emerged as a new threat in the open sea, still about 1,400 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean but following a track that would take it over the Bahamas.