By Alabama Public Radio
Mobile, AL – Hurricane Katrina has been blamed for at least 55 deaths. Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast just outside New Orleans Monday morning, with winds of 145 mph. The hurricane was finally downgraded to a tropical storm Monday night. Mississippi emergency management officials say 50 people were killed in that state, mostly from one apartment complex in Biloxi. Officials also say two people in Alabama died in a traffic accident as a result of the storm. Several others are feared dead in flooded Mississippi neighborhoods, many of which couldn't be reached by rescuers because of high water.