PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - People in the Florida Keys were ordered to flee, and residents along hundreds of miles of Gulf Coast began boarding up Thursday as a rapidly strengthening Hurricane Dennis took aim at the storm-weary region.

Forecasters warned residents from Florida to Louisiana to be ready this weekend for Dennis, with top winds already at 130 mph. They said the hurricane could turn into a Category 4 storm if it gains more strength as it barrels through the Caribbean toward the Gulf of Mexico.