An oil slick from the Gulf of Mexico leak was confirmed a few miles off the Florida coast today as the impact of the disaster spreads.

Tornadoes ripped through the US Southeast, killing 10 people, including three children, and injuring more than a dozen others.

Rescuers along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast pushed aside the dead to reach the living in a race against time and rising waters, while New Orleans sank deeper into crisis and Louisiana’s governor ordered storm refugees out of this drowning city.

HELICOPTERS plucked frantic survivors from rooftops yesterday and officials said hundreds of people may have died in Hurricane Katrina’s attack on the US Gulf Coast, which sent a wall of water into Mississippi and flooded New Orleans.

Adam Nossiter, New Orleans

A MONSTER hurricane was approaching the southern US last night, threatening to destroy the city of New Orleans and forcing two million people to flee.

A monster hurricane is approaching the southern United States tonight, threatening to destroy the city of New Orleans and forcing two million people to flee.

A passenger was killed and 65 others were injured when a train derailed and toppled on its side as it crossed swamps in central Mississippi.

An Amtrak passenger train with 84 people on board has derailed in rural Mississippi, killing at least one person and injuring dozens.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced today he will run again for the presidency, declaring that Washington has become “corporate occupied territory” and arguing there is too little difference between the Democratic and Republican parties.

Washington lobbyist Haley Barbour unseated Mississippi Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove as the Republicans consolidated party gains in elections in the United States.