08 July, 2005 - Published 13:50 GMT

Hurricane Dennis gathers strength

Hurricane Dennis, which is sweeping through the Caribbean, has been upgraded to category four - the second-highest on the scale.

It has battered coastal areas of Haiti and Jamaica with winds of 216km/h (135mph) and is now heading for Cuba.

The hurricane is expected to hit Cuba on Friday, as 200,000 people take shelter in the south-east.

In the US, a state of emergency has been declared in Florida, which could also be on Dennis's path this weekend.

Florida Keys tourists have been ordered to leave in anticipation of the storm's arrival.

Dennis, the Atlantic's first hurricane this year, is likely to intensify as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico, with possible threats to gas and oil rigs.

Cuba threatened

It is expected to dump up to 38cm of rain on parts of eastern Cuba, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

At 0300 GMT, the storm was off Cabo Cruz in south-east Cuba and was heading north-west at 24km/h, the NHC said.

Cuban President Fidel Castro appeared on state TV to reassure the population but warned the hurricane was likely to cause much damage.

"We have an important organisational and defence plan functioning like clockwork," Mr Castro said.

Among the areas in Cuba preparing for the hurricane was the US navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where recorded messages were played to detainees in several different languages warning that their cell windows would be blocked up.

Residential areas along the south coast of Jamaica were evacuated but the authorities complained that some people were refusing to leave their homes. Airports and supermarkets were closed.

Flood threat

Thunderstorms thrashed the Dominican Republic and southern Haiti on Thursday.

Haiti, large areas of which have been deforested, is highly vulnerable to flooding in such circumstances.

News agency Associated Press reports four people were killed when a bridge collapsed under pressure from a swollen river.

Floods caused by tropical storm Jeanne in September last year killed about 2,000 people.

Rivers burst their banks, flooding homes with 1m of water, and roofs were torn off buildings.

Oil prices surged due to the threat to oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fears of another season of heavy storms pushed the price of US light sweet crude to a record $61.63 a barrel.