*Associated Press/AP Online

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Hurricane Dennis closed in on the
Gulf Coast early Sunday after strengthening into a dangerous
Category 4 storm, plowing toward a region still recovering from a
hurricane 10 months ago.
With nearly 1.4 million people under evacuation orders, some
towns in the projected path were left almost deserted. Landfall was
expected Sunday afternoon somewhere along the coast of the Florida
Panhandle, Alabama or Mississippi.
After weakening to a Category 2 storm over Cuba, Dennis
regrouped in the Gulf on Saturday and became a Category 4 storm
again early Sunday, with sustained winds of 145 mph.
"Category 4 is not just a little bit worse - it's much
worse," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane
Center in Miami. "Damage increases exponentially as the wind
speed increases. And no matter where it makes actual landfall, it's
going to have a tremendous impact well away from the center."
snip
"I think there is a legitimate feeling, 'Why me? What
did I do wrong?'" Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said.
snip
About 700,000 people were under evacuation orders in
Florida, as were 500,000 in Alabama and 190,000 in Mississippi.
Traffic doubled on some highways as people fled inland. Alabama
officials turned Interstate 65 into a one-way route north from the
coast to Montgomery.