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Hurricane Dennis Pounds Cuba, Heads Toward Florida
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(http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=E1D08C:3919ACA

Dennis is now bringing heavy rains, high winds to Cuba, and is
expected to hit Florida Saturday and Sunday





High waves crash at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Station, CubaAt least
five people have been killed in Haiti in flooding caused by Hurricane
Dennis. The storm is a dangerous Category Four hurricane, on a scale
of one to five, with winds higher than 200 kilometers an hour. Dennis
is now bringing heavy rains and high winds to Cuba, and is expected to
hit the U.S. state of Florida on Saturday and Sunday.

Cuban civil defense officials say they evacuated more than 200,000
people from southern coastal areas as Dennis approached. Cuban
President Fidel Castro warned Cubans to expect major damage from the
storm.







Eloge Larame 63, along with his granddaughters take shelter in church
during massive flood in Les Cayes, HaitiDennis caused heavy flooding
in Jamaica, but spared the island a direct hit. Many areas of Jamaica
are without power, and remain cut off from authorities trying to
determine what damage the storm caused. Flooding in heavily deforested
Haiti swept away roads and bridges, cutting off towns and cities in
the southern part of the country.

Hurricane Dennis is one of the strongest storms to form this early in
the hurricane season. The Atlantic and Caribbean hurricane season
begins on June 1 and ends November 30. Chris Hennon, a meteorologist
at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, says conditions are ripe
for storm formation this year.

"Well, the water has been very warm so far this season," he explained.
"The atmospheric conditions happen to be very favorable for Dennis to
form. So, those two things have conspired to give us this severe
hurricane."

In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency, and
ordered the evacuation of all non-residents of the Florida keys.
Florida was hit by four hurricanes last year, and Dennis is on track
to strike the northern part of the state by Sunday.


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