Dennis Slams Cuba, Heads for Florida

Hurricane Dennis made landfall on Cuba Friday pounding the island with 145 mph winds and triggering evacuations in the Florida Keys.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami posted a hurricane warning for parts of Florida as Dennis barreled across Cuba.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Dennis, an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, was about 145 miles south-southeast of Key West packing sustained 135 mph winds.

A hurricane warning was posted for the lower Florida Keys from the Seven Mile Bridge westward to the Dry Tortugas. A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were in effect for the remainder of the Keys.

A tropical storm warning was in effect along Florida’s west coast south of Bonita Beach and along the peninsula’s east coast south of Golden Beach.

Dennis slammed into Haiti before clobbering Cuba. Haitian radio reported four people were killed when a bridge collapsed over a raging river swollen by the rains. Another person died when a tree fell on a house, and several people were missing and feared dead in the flooding.

Dennis could reach the U.S. mainland Sunday or Monday.