Tourists evacuated as hurricane hits Guantanamo Bay

Thousands of tourists were evacuated from idyllic US beaches today as a monster hurricane headed their way after hitting the detention centre in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Experts warned that Hurricane Dennis was “extremely dangerous” and nearing Category 5 strength as it headed for the mainland.

It has maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and threatened to wreak devastation just nine months after the same area was ripped apart by Hurricane Ivan.

As it lashed Guantanamo Bay, where many Islamist extremists are being held by the US, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, warned it could reach the US by Sunday.

The entire Gulf coast, from south-west Florida to Louisiana, is at risk.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency in order to provide vital support to residents and some 8,700 Navy personnel stationed at Key West were evacuated to Orlando Tourists were ordered to leave the Alabama beaches and similar directions were given south of New Orleans and in Mississippi.

Businesses were boarded up and roads became gridlocked as people escaped coastal areas. Many petrol stations had already sold out of fuel.

As the weather deteriorated, Key West police officers were working 12 hours shifts and preparing for the worst.

Winds extended up to 50 miles from the centre, and tropical storm-force winds stretched up to 160 miles outwards.

The National Hurricane Centre said Dennis was the strongest Atlantic hurricane to form this early in the season since records began.

It is the Atlantic’s first hurricane and fourth tropical storm of the year.

NASA decided against moving the Discovery shuttle off its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, concluding it was out of the Category 4 storm’s range.

At least five people have already been killed by Dennis as it tore over Haiti and a guard tower was destroyed at the US detention camp in Guantanamo.

Last year, Hurricane Ivan killed 25 people and caused $14bn worth of damage in the same area, much of which has still not recovered.