Hurricane Dennis Ripped Through Central Cuba, Part of the Caribbean

Cuba´s deadliest hurricane in 40 years has killed at least ten people, knocking down power and phone lines, unleashing floods and snapping towering trees out of the ground.

"This has helped us learn more, and to put to the test our civil defense mobilization," said President Fidel Castro on Cuban TV Saturday.

Cuba implemented a comprehensive hurricane evacuation system after 1963´s Hurricane Flora claimed 1,200 lives. Last year, major Hurricane Ivan did not claim lives in Cuba but left a staggering $923 million in damage.

Forecasters said Hurricane Dennis, which also left five people dead in Haiti, was following a northwesterly track through the Gulf of Mexico, where workers were ordered off 116 oil platforms and rigs.

At least three provinces sustained serious material damage, a government source said. Homes were destroyed and power was knocked out almost completely in Santiago de Cuba, the country´s second-largest city on its east end.

In Haiti, Dennis left five people dead, 20 injured and another 30 listed as missing. Most of the victims were in the south and southeast. Some 8,000 people were displaced. The Haitian Red Cross said an additional four dead had been found, but civil defense had yet to confirm that.

Hurricane Dennis left one dead in Jamaica as floods forced thousands from their homes, authorities said Sunday.

Thousands were still marooned as flood waters had yet to subside in several communities three days after the hurricane´s passage. Several homes were reportedly washed away and others badly damaged by the storm.