ORLANDO, Fla. -- Nearly 1.4 million people were ordered evacuated Saturday as the Hurricane Dennis continued on a path west of Central Florida and into the Gulf Coast area.

Hurricane Dennis dealt a glancing blow to the Florida Keys earlier Saturday, knocking out power and leaving streets flooded with seaweed.

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The hurricane, blamed for at least 20 deaths in Haiti and Cuba, carried a threat of more than a half-foot of rain plus waves and storm surge that could be more than a story high when it makes landfall Sunday somewhere along the coast of the Florida Panhandle, Alabama or Mississippi.

Dennis had grown to a Category 4 storm with 150 mph sustained wind early Friday, but it weakened when it crossed Cuba. It regained strength Saturday, and by early evening it was back up to Category 3 with top sustained wind of 115 mph. National Hurricane Center forecasters said Dennis could return to a Category 4 by landfall, bringing winds of at least 131 mph.

Computer models showing the predicted path of Hurricane Dennis continued to push the storm into the Gulf Coast, making landfall anywhere from Pensacola, Fla., to Mobile, Ala., according to Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry.

Local 6's exclusive VIPIR forecast radar has Hurricane Dennis continuing a path toward the Florida Panhandle on Sunday.

"A lot of people have been asking, 'Will this pull a (Hurricane) Charley on us and make a right turn?" Mowry said. "Right now, it appears that that is not going to happen. All of the models are pretty much in agreement putting the storm in the Panhandle or over near Mississippi. I really think this is going to stay on the forecast track and continue to the west and away from Central Florida."

"Dennis will primarily affect the western part of our viewing area with some very heavy rain," Mowry said. "We do expect to see heavy rain along the east coast and there is the potential for some isolated tornadoes."

Dennis is the earliest Category 4 storm to develop in the Caribbean and the strongest storm ever this early in the hurricane season, Local 6 News reported.

Dennis had grown to a Category 4 storm with 150 mph sustained wind early Friday, but it weakened when it crossed Cuba.

It regained strength Saturday, and by afternoon it was back up to Category 2 with top sustained wind of 100 mph. National Hurricane Center forecasters said Dennis could strengthen into a Category 3 by landfall.

At 10 p.m., the center of Dennis was located near latitude 26.5 north, longitude 85.2 west.

This is about 260 miles south of Panama City, Fla., and about 350 miles southeast of Biloxi, Miss.

Latest Warnings

At 5 p.m., the hurricane warning for the lower Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge has been changed to a tropical storm warning.

The tropical storm warning has been discontinued for the southeast Florida coast from Golden Beach southward, including the Florida Keys from the Seven Mile Bridge eastward.

A tropical storm warning is now in effect along the Florida west coast from east of the Steinhatchee River southward to Flamingo, and for the lower Florida Keys West of the Seven Mile Bridge.

A tropical storm warning is also in effect for the southeastern Louisiana coast west of the mouth of the Pearl River to Grand Isle, including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Ponchartrain.

1.4 Million Ordered To Evacuate

Evacuations were ordered for nearly 1.4 million people ahead of Sunday's landfall, although many residents decided to take their chances at home with the storm's 100-mph wind.

The hurricane, blamed for at least 20 deaths in Haiti and Cuba, was expected to dump more than a half-foot of rain and swamp shores with waves and storm surge more than a story high.

Early Saturday, Dennis largely spared the Florida Keys as the Category 2 storm swept into the Gulf of Mexico. The only signs of the damage in Key West were flooded streets that were littered with tree branches, plywood, street signs and other debris.

Along the Gulf Coast, many residents were patching up roofs on their homes or living in government trailers because of damage caused by Hurricane Ivan just 10 months ago. For them, Dennis meant another tense weekend of long lines for gas and searching for generators and plywood.

"I'm tired of all this packing up," said Melba Turner, 70, of Fort Walton Beach. "We look like the Beverly Hillbillies when we get all packed up and leave. I'd rather stay. We're getting too old for all this fussing."

Cuban state radio said hundreds of homes around Cuba's southeastern coast had been destroyed or heavily damaged, and civil defense officials said more than 1.5 million people had fled their homes.

Dennis largely spared the Florida Keys as the eye passed west of the islands, but more than 211,000 homes and businesses lost power Saturday across the southern tip of Florida, including the entire city of Key West.

Branches, street signs and other debris littered Key West's streets, waves washed sand and coral onto a main road and parts of the tourist drag of Duval Street were under about a foot and a half of water. No injuries were reported.

"We're holding up," Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley said.

Several tornadoes in the Tampa Bay area caused minor damage such as downed trees, and more twisters were likely in parts of the Gulf of Mexico coast Sunday.

In Alabama, about 500,000 people were under evacuation orders, as were 700,000 in Florida and 190,000 in Mississippi. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley urged residents to evacuate if they were told to do so.

Traffic doubled on some Mississippi highways as people fled inland from the coasts of Florida, Alabama and Louisiana. Alabama officials turned Interstate 65 into a one-way route north from the coast to Montgomery.

However, confident that the hurricane would make landfall farther east, officials in New Orleans told nearly half a million residents they could stay home. A voluntary evacuation was lifted for suburban Jefferson Parish, including the barrier island town of Grand Isle.

"We want you to be somewhat comfortable, but not totally relaxed," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Saturday. At 3 p.m. EDT, Dennis' eye was about 295 miles south of Apalachicola in the Panhandle and about 425 miles southeast of Pascagoula, Miss. It was moving northwest at about 14 mph after missing Key West by about 125 miles, forecasters said.

Despite the storm's threat, many people refused to be scared away.

"I always stay," nightclub worker Clifton Pugh said in Gulf Shores, Ala. "I've never evacuated. We don't have any place to go. We'll have a couple of decks of cards and some candles and flashlights."

"This is home. This is what we go through," Danielle Kelson said as she filled up gas cans in Pensacola.

Some neighborhoods in Mobile, Ala., had the appearance of a typical Saturday as people mowed lawns, jogged, and shopped.

"God's going to take care of me," Dorothy McGee of Prichard, Ala., said as she shopped for groceries. And besides, she said, "I have nowhere to go."

Watch Local 6 Weather with Tom Sorrells, Michele Cimino and Larry Mowry for your forecast.