As flood waters receded, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin authorised police and the US military to force the evacuation of all residents who refuse to heed orders to leave the dark, dangerous city.

The floodwaters that caused so much misery and death in New Orleans were being pumped back into Lake Pontchartrain and authorities braced for what the receding deluge would reveal.

The floodwaters that caused so much misery and death in New Orleans were being pumped back into Lake Pontchartrain today as rescue crews from as far away as California trolled the evacuated city for stragglers and authorities braced for what the receding deluge would reveal.

Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge today, killing five or six, a deputy chief said.

Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge today, killing five or six of them, a deputy chief said.

Hurricane Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans, the city’s mayor said today.

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.

NEW ORLEANS Mayor Ray Nagin warned of a “significant” death toll as the exact scope of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction remained unknown.

As dawn broke over the ravaged Gulf of Mexico coastline today, rescuers in boats and helicopters furiously searched for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, with fears the death toll could reach 80.

Announcing itself with shrieking, 145-mph winds, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast just outside New Orleans yesterday, submerging entire neighbourhoods, swamping Mississippi’s beachfront casinos and killing at least 55 people.

Adam Nossiter, New Orleans

Rick Wilking, New Orleans

AN immediate evacuation for all of New Orleans was ordered last night as Hurricane Katrina bore down with wind revving up to nearly 175mph and threats of a massive storm surge.

An immediate mandatory evacuation for the southern US city of New Orleans was ordered today as Hurricane Katrina bore down with winds up to nearly 175 mph and a threat of a massive storm surge.

More than 1.2 million people in metropolitan New Orleans were warned to get out as 140-mph Hurricane Ivan churned toward the Gulf Coast, threatening to submerge the below-sea-level city in what could be the most disastrous storm to hit in nearly 40 years.