residents to leave the Florida Keys. The U.S. state was wracked by four hurricanes last year. Dennis, the first of four tropical storms so far this season to have reached hurricane strength, was on a similar route as that followed last year by Hurricane Ivan, a category five hurricane that left 65 dead in the Caribbean, 31 dead in the United States and a swathe of destruction. The region is still recovering from that storm. Last season's whirlwind of successive lethal hurricanes was one of the worst on record, and the region was still not fully back on its feet in the face of new onslaughts. --SP 0007 Local Time 2107 GMT
