Katrina causes damages in the southern U.S.

Reports of widespread flooding and property damage are coming in from the southern United States as Hurricane Katrina pounds the region with high winds and torrential rain.

The U.S. National Weather Service says Katrina has weakened to a category three hurricane but is still packing winds of 200 kilometers per hour. Flooding appears to be especially severe in low-lying New Orleans, where officials had warned Katrina would overwhelm the city's system of protective levees.

Winds from the storm have torn holes in the roof of New Orleans' Super dome, a football stadium where some 10-thousand people are waiting out the storm. Other cities where flooding is reported include Biloxi, Gulf port, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama.

美南部遭受卡特里娜飓风破坏

来自美国南部一些州的消息说，卡特里娜飓风带来的暴风雨在那里造成大面积水淹和财产破坏。

美国国家气象局说，卡特里娜已经减弱到三级飓风，但是风速仍然超过每小时200公里。在新奥尔良市的低洼地区，水淹看来尤其严重。当地官员曾经警告，卡特里娜飓风会冲破该市的防洪堤。

里面有1万多人避风的新奥尔良大型圆顶美式足球场的屋顶也被狂风撕开一些洞。其它发生水淹的城市还有密西西比州的比洛克西和格尔夫波特以及阿拉巴马州的莫比尔。