Hurricane Dennis hits US coast

Hurricane Dennis roared quickly through the coastal areas of Alabama and north-western Florida with a 120 mph bluster of blinding squalls and crashing waves, but shellshocked residents emerged to find far less damage than when Ivan took nearly the same path 10 months ago.

The tightly wound Dennis, which had earlier been a Category 4, 145 mph monster as it marched up the Gulf of Mexico, weakened just before it struck yesterday less than 50 miles east of Ivan’s landfall.

By last night, Dennis had weakened to a tropical storm as it moved through Alabama, with sustained winds of 60 mph.

Despite downed power lines and outages of up to 200,000 homes, early reports indicated no deaths and relatively modest structural damage.

“We’re really happy it was compact and that it lasted only so long,” said Mike Decker, who lost only some shingles and a privacy fence at his home near where the storm came ashore. “It was more of a show for the kids.”

The storm indeed put on a show as it blew ashore at 3.25pm local time (8.25pm UK time) midway between the towns of Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, which are on the north-western sliver of Florida known as the Panhandle.

White-capped waves spewed four-storey geysers over sea walls. Sideways, blinding rain mixed with seawater blew in sheets, toppling roadside signs for hotels and petrol stations. Waves offshore exceeded 30 feet and in central Pensacola, the gulf spilled over pavements eight blocks inland.

Boats broke loose and bobbed like toys in the roiling ocean.

“It sounds like the proverbial freight train,” said Mari Darr Welch, riding out the storm at home in Fort Walton Beach. “I stepped out on the front porch and got slammed against the house by a big gust.”

But Dennis, which was responsible for at least 20 deaths in the Caribbean, helped those in its path by its relatively small size and fast pace. Hurricane-force winds stretched only 40 miles from the centre, compared with 105 miles for Ivan, and it tore through at nearly 20 mph. Rainfall was measured at 8ins, rather than the expected 12ins.

“With Ivan, the damage area was probably more spread out and wider than it was for Dennis,” National Hurricane Centre meteorologist Michelle Mainelli said.

Dennis became the fifth hurricane to strike Florida in less than 11 months, and President George Bush soon declared the state a major federal disaster along with Alabama and Mississippi.

In all, 1.8 million people from Florida to Mississippi had been urged to evacuate, and storm shelters quickly filled up. More than 9,000 people were in shelters yesterday in Florida alone, and others headed to motels and relatives’ homes.