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Hurricane Katrina batters Florida's coast

Hurricane Katrina - Neighbourhoods flooded
Hurricane Katrina - Neighbourhoods flooded

Four people have been killed and two million people left without power after Hurricane Katrina battered Florida's southeast coast.

Katrina, which was downgraded to a tropical storm earlier today after hitting the Everglades, regained hurricane status as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico.   

The hurricane came ashore south of Fort Lauderdale with 128km/h winds at about midnight last night Irish time.

It then moved across southern Florida, leaving a trail of flooded neighbourhoods and fallen trees in its wake.

Experts now fear that it could strengthen over the gulf's warm waters before looping northwards and slamming into the Florida Panhandle, which has already been hit this year by Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Ivan.