Storm unleashes fury on US Gulf Coast

Adam Nossiter, New Orleans

Katrina weakened overnight to a Category 4 storm and made a slight turn to the right before coming ashore at 6.10am CDT near the Louisiana bayou town of Buras. The storm passed just to the east of New Orleans as it moved inland, sparing the vulnerable below-sea-level city its full fury and the apocalyptic damage forecasters had feared.

But there was destruction everywhere along the Gulf Coast, including an estimated 40,000 homes flooded in St Bernard Parish just east of New Orleans.