Hurricane Dennis not so bad?

That's what early reports from the Florida panhandle are saying. For the people of Northwest Florida I hope this news is true. I just feel alot of people in Dennis' path may not be feeling very cheerful at the moment.

Dennis not as dangerous as past Panhandle storms
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD, PHIL LONG AND MARTIN MERZER

PENSACOLA - Shingles flew through the air. Sea invaded land. Power lines didn't stand a chance. It seemed so familiar, except for this: Hurricane Dennis may not have been costly in lives and damage, at least by Florida's recent standards.

''We need to say a little prayer tonight,'' said Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby, ``because the good Lord took care of us.''

The strongest hurricane to ever directly strike Florida in July but also one that moved with charitable swiftness, Dennis slammed into the Pensacola area Sunday and into one million people still scarred by last year's assault from Hurricane Ivan.

The core drilled the Gulf Coast with estimated 120 mph winds, officially making landfall on Santa Rosa Island at 3:25 p.m. That made it a major Category 3 hurricane and put it squarely in the same area splintered last September by Ivan.

Yet many residents inspecting post-storm damage discerned a difference. For one thing, the worst of Dennis missed the most heavily populated areas.

Ivan killed 29 people in the Panhandle and inflicted more than $7 billion in damage across the Southeast. One Dennis-related death was reported by Sunday night.

''It's a hell of a lot better than it was last time,'' said Ouida Tucker, who just spent $10,000 to repair his Ivan-damaged home in Pensacola. All he could find Sunday was a downed oak tree, a twisted fence and some new damage to his new roof.

Still, other facts could not be ignored:

Florida now has endured five hurricanes within 10 months. The hurricane season lasts until Nov. 30. Forecasters say something else already is brewing in the Atlantic.

''`We're tired already,'' said Dino Villani, director of public safety for battered Okaloosa County, east of Pensacola. ``We're still tired from last year, and we're already tired now.''

And a lot of work remained to be done.

One of many examples: Chest-high water flowed through much of St. Marks, a town about 20 miles south of Tallahassee and far from the center of the storm, an indication of the hurricane's wide sweep.

Even before Dennis arrived, one storm-related death was reported in Walton County. Officials said 3-year-old Christopher Miller of Defuniak Springs fell from a car and was run over by his family as they prepared to evacuate.

No other casualties were immediately reported.

A preliminary survey of downtown Pensacola indicated that the city avoided major destruction. Some damaged roofs at the airport and elsewhere, some flooded streets, many broken trees, that sort of thing.

Assessments from other places came slowly, but the overall picture seemed to suggest a relatively modest toll, all things considered.

Other reports spoke of damaged beachside buildings, widespread flooding along the coast and in some interior areas, and several bridges that might need repair.

''It doesn't seem it was nearly as bad as Ivan for us,'' said Sandee Launch, a spokeswoman for Okaloosa County, just east of where the core struck.

Steve Robson, 36, who lives near the bay in Fort Walton Beach, said he thought he was in for a bad night.

''I started to hear the noise of the limbs crashing down and the water splashing up over the berm'' that protects his patio and sliding glass doors, he said. ``The water was rising very quickly, but the wind died down and the water started receding.''

As he spoke, Robson shoveled away sand he had piled around his house for protection.

NO LIGHTS FOR 140,000

Utility officials said more than 140,000 customers in Florida were without power and much of Montgomery, Ala., was blacked out, but that's all relative, too.

''No power? That's OK,'' said Suzan Troup of Pensacola. ``I'm willing to live without power as long as the bay isn't in my living room.''

A measure of caution was required, however. Typically, the full extent of casualties and damage is not known until days after a hurricane passes.

With the wind still blowing, Gov. Jeb Bush and top state and federal officials pledged a swift response.

Convoys of trucks carrying water, ice and other relief supplies and assistance, some from South Florida, stood ready along the periphery of the target zone. More than 1,000 National
Guardsmen and 700 state law-enforcement officials mustered there as well.

''The minute it is safe, we are going to move,'' Bush said.