HURRICANE KATRINA left at least five people dead as it roared past New Orleans last night, ripping up street furniture, punching windows out of high-rise blocks and tearing two holes in the roof of the stadium where about 10,000 storm refugees were sheltering.

Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans, said that several bodies were “floating in the water”, and about 200 people were stranded on rooftops in one neighborhood.

Much of the city has been hit by flood waters and there are fears that many more fatalities are waiting to be discovered.

Kathleen Blanco, the Governor of Louisiana, said that rescue teams had been deployed. “High water and strong winds are making it too dangerous to reach some of these areas at this time. The power is out, the phones are down and many trees are down,” she said.

The confirmed death toll included three people killed by falling trees in Mississippi and two who died in an Alabama traffic accident.

In Jefferson Parish, one of the worst hit areas in New Orleans, flood waters were waist-deep. Walter Maestri, an emergency manager, said that two walls had collapsed on to vehicles that might have been occupied. “We may have had fatalities. The powerlines are like spaghetti lying everywhere. Roofs have been blown off and found lying several blocks away,” he said.

Cowering with those few who had not left, in a downtown hotel, at times it sounded as if New Orleans was groaning under the impact as the wind funnelled between buildings and along streets, tearing up shop fronts, lampposts and road signs, biting into roofs and hurling chunks of debris 60ft (18m) into the air.

Although a late twist meant that the city faced the storm’s weaker side, the main streets turned into rivers of debris. In outlying areas, homes were flooded to ceiling level as families took to roofs to await rescue. More than twenty buildings were said to have collapsed.

The storm came ashore in the early hours near Grand Isle, Louisiana, 60 miles south of New Orleans, having weakened slightly from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane, but still one of the strongest to hit the mainland with winds of up to 165mph. Last night Katrina was downgraded to a Category 1 as it headed inland.

Tropical storm force winds continued to lash the area and residents were urged to sit tight. A curfew remained in force in New Orleans but some people emerged to inspect damage. Looting took place in one area and police made arrests.

The electricity grid for the entire New Orleans metropolitan area and surrounding towns was knocked out, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Many telephone lines are down.

A 20ft storm surge swamped coastal communities along the Gulf of Mexico and left the Mississippi towns of Biloxi and Gulfport 10ft under water. The Gulfport fire chief, Pat Sullivan, said: “It’s complete devastation.” Haley Barbour, the Governor of Mississippi, said: “The hurricane came down on us like a ton of bricks. We know some got trapped. There could be a lot of dead people.”

Water was still cascading last night over some of the levees that hold back water on Lake Pontchartrain, bordering the city. An estimated 40,000 homes in St Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans, have been flooded after 10in of rain fell in 24 hours. Many of the lower-lying eastern districts were 6ft under water after a 15ft storm surge.

The historic French Quarter and downtown area weathered the storm, suffering superficial but widespread damage, but the surrounding region appeared to have taken a heavy hit.

An oil drilling platform broke free in Mobile Bay, Alabama, and slammed into a bridge, while several oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were reported to be adrift.

More than 8,500 people remained in shelters in Mississippi and the Red Cross announced its biggest single response to a natural disaster. Some 4,000 National Guard troops were mobilised.

Mr Nagin estimated that 80 per cent of the metropolitan area’s 1.4 million residents had left by the time Katrina began to pass through after a mandatory evacuation order. About 10,000 people with no transport or no money to travel sought refuge in the Superdome, an indoor football arena.

Families crammed into the stands and camped on the pitch, but there was panic as part of the roof began to peel away and rain poured in.

THE RECORD BREAKERS

Katrina Deadliest Atlantic hurricane
About 22,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Great Hurricane of 1780 (October 10-17), which devastated several Caribbean islands, wrecking merchant and warships

Most destructive Atlantic hurricane
Mitch, October 1998. An estimated 20,000 people killed, one million left homeless. Possibly also the heaviest hurricane rains, at more than 2ft in 36 hours in South Honduras. Heavier rainfall in mountains could not be recorded because gauges were destroyed

Strongest Atlantic Hurricane
Gilbert had the lowest atmospheric pressure reading of 888 millibars recorded on September 14, 1988, south of Cuba. Had winds of 180mph, gusting to more than 200mph

Costliest Atlantic Hurricane
Allowing for inflation, one in September 1926, which flattened a large part of Florida and Alabama, cost more than $87 billion

Times Recommends

• Heed the great stabiliser’s words
• How a voice for everyone led to stalemate
• Bakara market becomes a slaughterhouse