The effects of Hurricane Dennis in Cuba were deadly and damaging. On July 8, after rapidly intensifying, Hurricane Dennis made landfall in Cuba, first in Puerto Del Ingles as a and then again at winds of , this time in Punta Mangles Altos. Background Dennis was formed by a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on June 29. By July 2, it was organizing and on July 4, it formed as a tropical depression. It then turned west-northwest and strengthened into a tropical storm on July 5, and a hurricane on July 7th. After that, it rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall near Punta Del Ingles, Cuba on July 8. While crossing southeast Cuba, it weakened to a Category 3, before restrengthening as it reached the Gulf of Guacanayabo into a Category 4. It reached a peak intensity of before weakening into a storm at landfall in Punta Mangles Altos, Cuba later also on July 8. After that, the storm traversed most of western Cuba, before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico near Havana, Cuba with winds of on July 9. The storm went through a period of gradual intensification before once again going through rapid intensification in the Gulf of Mexico. It reached a third peak intensity of . However, the storm soon weakened after dry air reached into the storm. It later made landfall on Santa Rosa Island, Florida with winds of and a pressure of on July 10. It rode across the Florida Panhandle as a hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm by the time it reached southwestern Alabama. By the time it reached east-central Mississippi, it weakened to a tropical depression. It turned northeastward and moved into the Ohio Valley, where it weakened into a low pressure system. It then accelerated northeastward and eventually got absorbed into a larger low pressure system over northwestern Ontario. Preparations In preparation of the storm, over 1,500,000 Cubans were forced to leave their homes, 130,000 being students and 17,000 being foreign tourists. Around 1,000 food preparing centers were stocked and 1,800 evacuation centers were activated. 140,000 people worked in life prevention and evacuation activities while 1,600 civil defense units were activated. The United Nations sent officials to Cuba to be on standby before the storm arrived. Impact Over 120,000 houses were damaged in some sort of way; 15,000 had collapsed, 25,000 had