[GoReds]

Depends on the forward speed and intensity of the hurricane.

I lived in just outside of Charlotte, NC when Hugo came through. When it made landfall in Charleston, SC it had top sustained winds of 128MPH (some new estimates are indicating that wind speeds are not being measured properly and Hugo was stronger than 128). When it hit Charlotte, which is over 200 miles away, Hugo was still classified as a hurricane. Charlotte was devistated, btw.

A few years later, I lived in Cary, NC which is just south of Raleigh. Hurricane Fran made landfall at Wilmington and was still a hurricane when it passed over Cary more than 130 miles later. They were burning debris at several different dump sites for over a year in the Raleigh area after that.

Neither of the two hurricanes I encountered were nearly as intense as Dennis is at this moment. Dennis is likely to undergo some fluctuation before landfall, but will probably be a major hurricane at that point.

The comforting news is that Cincinnati is considerably further away from possible landfall positions than the cities I lived in. Dennis is not moving fast enough to maintain his intensity for a long period of time once he makes landfall.

However, anyone living within 200 miles of the coast should not take landfalling hurricanes lightly. You'll be unpleasantly surprised.