Katrina strengthened into a hurricane from a tropical storm on Thursday and deluged Florida's densely populated southeast coast with rain, heightening fears of flooding, Reuters reported. The core of the storm was expected to hit the Fort Lauderdale area late on Thursday or early on Friday, dumping up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain on southern Florida as it moved slowly across the state into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. "The entire south part of the peninsula is at risk for flooding," said Ed Rappaport, the center's deputy director. Some areas could get up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain, the hurricane center said. Skies darkened and rain poured as the outer bands of the storm moved ashore. Some streets were already flooding and emergency managers urged people to stay inside. At 4 p.m. (2000 GMT), Katrina was centered 25 miles (40 km) east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale. Fueled by warm Gulfstream currents, Katrina's top winds strengthened to 75 mph (120), up from 40 mph (65 kph) a day earlier and just over the 74-mph (118 kph) threshold to become a hurricane, said hurricane center director Max Mayfield. --more 2338 Local Time 2038 GMT
