Related: Hurricane Dennis come ashore in US

    WASHINGTON, July 10 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush on Sunday declared parts of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi disaster areas in the wake of the landfall of Hurricane Dennis on the three southern states.

    

Hurricane Dennis raced ashore on the US Gulf Coast on Sunday with ferocious 120-mph (195 kph) winds and pounding waves that lashed an area still scarred by last year's storms. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

The announcement enables the three states to receive various assistance from the federal government, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

    Meanwhile, US authorities have ordered direct assistance to four counties in Alabama and Florida.

    Currently, Hurricane Dennis is quickly racing through parts of Florida and Alabama after it landed on the US Gulf Coast with ferocious winds and pounding waves earlier Sunday.

    However, after its landfall, the hurricane weakened from an originally powerful Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale to Category 3. It is expected to further degrade as it moves inland.

    Despite the hurricane knocking down power lines in some areas and forced authorities to ask some 1.2 million inhabitants to evacuate, so far there has been no report of deaths.

    Officials said the weakening Hurricane Dennis will only cause limited damage compared to September's Hurricane Ivan, which also came ashore on Florida and killed 25 people, causing 14 billion USdollars in damage.

    "I am pleased that the winds died a bit," said Florida GovernorJeb Bush, brother of the US president.

    Rescue operation has been prepared in affected areas. In Florida, some 2,600 National Guard troops, 700 policemen and other relief workers were getting ready while oil companies have pulled 2,100 workers off oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Before its landfall on the United States, Hurricane Dennis hit Cuba and Haiti and claimed over 20 lives there. Enditem