PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — People in the Florida Keys were ordered to flee and residents along hundreds of miles of Gulf Coast began boarding up Thursday as a rapidly strengthening Hurricane Dennis took aim at the storm-weary region.
Forecasters warned residents from Florida to Louisiana to be ready this weekend for Dennis, with top winds already at 135 mph. The hurricane turned into a Category 4 storm Thursday evening as it gained strength while barreling through the Caribbean toward the Gulf of Mexico.
A bridge collapsed into a river swollen by Hurricane Dennis' fierce winds and rain, killing at least four people in southwestern Haiti Thursday as the strengthening storm lashed Caribbean coastlines.
Many in the hurricane's projected path already got a wake-up call this week from a surprising Tropical Storm Cindy that caused three deaths, knocked out power to thousands, and spawned twisters that toppled trees and caused up to $40 million damage to a famed NASCAR track.
"We're trying to get ready for whatever happens. We've been through so much already," Jose Davila said as he painted a house in Port Charlotte, where blue tarps still dot the rooftops of homes waiting to be repaired from Hurricane Charley, the first of a record four hurricanes to hit Florida last year.
"They're freaked out," Joe Hendrickson said of residents he encountered snapping up plywood and storm shutters at a Home Depot in nearby Punta Gorda. "They're taking it serious. They've seen what a hurricane can do."
Tourists throughout the Florida Keys were ordered to evacuate, as were all mobile home residents — and all southernmost residents of the island chain. A hurricane warning was issued for the lower Keys and Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency.
Lines of cars were seen streaming out of the island chain Thursday. Airlines reported that nearly all flights out of Key West were full, and Greyhound added buses to help get residents out of the area.
At 11 p.m. EDT, Dennis' center was about 105 miles south of Camaguey in east-central Cuba, or roughly 500 miles southeast of Miami. It was moving northwest at about 15 mph on a path that could have the Keys and southwestern Florida feeling its effects Friday.
Dennis strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane when its sustained winds hit 131 mph. The National Hurricane Center said it could weaken after hitting Cuba, but warned it could regain strength in the Gulf and had become "an extremely dangerous" storm.
At Cape Canaveral, the space shuttle Discovery was considered to be safe on its launching pad for now, and NASA still aimed for a liftoff next week — the first shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster.
But shuttle managers decided Thursday evening to begin initial preparations to move Discovery from the pad. A final call on whether to haul the shuttle back to its hangar was expected Friday afternoon.
In Gulf Shores, Ala., residents still haven't fully rebuilt the damage from Hurricane Ivan 10 months ago. Only about 60 percent of rental properties have reopened, with damaged roofs and empty buildings still spotting the beachfront.
"I'm worried about flying trash cans and two-by-fours," said Nick Primozic.
In Louisiana, preparations for Dennis were delayed by the aftermath of Cindy, which caught many by surprise when it moved ashore Tuesday night with 8 inches of rain and 70-mph winds that knocked out power to about 287,000 customers, the largest blackout since Hurricane Betsy 40 years ago.
An estimated 64,000 customers were still without power Thursday afternoon, forcing many people — especially the sick, elderly and families with infants — to buy generators or evacuate to hotels to make it through another hot and sticky day.
In Leeville, along Louisiana's marshy coast, fishing boats were dashed against a bridge, roofs were torn off buildings, and at least one collapsed — a scene that caused some to suggest Cindy packed the punch of a Category 1 hurricane.
Cindy's remnants dumped up to 4 inches of rain Thursday on mountainous regions of western North and South Carolina.
Two deaths were blamed on Cindy in Georgia, where the remnants dumped up to 5 inches of rain and caused damages estimated at $75 million statewide. A traffic fatality was blamed on the storm in Alabama.
In Hampton, south of Atlanta, a suspected F-2 tornado — packing winds of 113 to 157 mph — blew off roofs and popped out windows to luxury boxes at Atlanta Motor Speedway, causing damage estimated at $25 million to $40 million.
"Everything but the track surface has suffered some kind of damage," said track president Steve Clark. "We don't know to what extent yet, but it's major. There are some buildings that will have to be torn down."