Cuba prepares for Hurricane Dennis
Cuba is preparing itself for the arrival of Hurricane Dennis, which has lashed Haiti and Jamaica.

Dennis is advancing from the sea of south Cuba with gusts of wind of over 150 km per hour and could reach category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale with winds reaching 178 km per hour.

Over 20,000 people have been evacuated from Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba and Granma, in central and southeastern parts of the island where heavy rainfall was expected.

According to the Cuban Meteorology Institute, Dennis will produce heavy downpour, heavy sea and floods in east Cuba.

The Cuban government issued warning of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, and took up measures to avoid damage on plantations, electricity infrastructure and other economic resources.

On early Thursday, Dennis was 300 km to the south of Guantanamo and advanced on a west-northwest direction.

Dennis, the fourth storm of the Atlantic season, became the first hurricane when it strengthened to a Category 1 storm Wednesday packing winds near 130 km per hour.

Last year three catastrophic hurricanes -- Frances, Ivan and Jeanne -- tore through the Caribbean with a collective ferocity not seen in years, causing hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage.