In pictures: Hurricane Lili

Hurricane Lili weakened from a powerful category 4 storm into a category 1 hurricane as it hit the coast of the US state of Louisiana, but it still packed a punch.

As many as half-a-million Americans in the region were urged to flee, but some stayed behind to risk the storm's high winds, rains and floods.

The storm was not as strong as forecasters first feared

Warnings were issued for a long stretch of the coast

The storm surge was expected to cause flooding

Some researchers defied the weather to study the storm

While weaker, Lili still brought 90mph (144km/h) winds

A surfer in Galveston, Texas, took advantage of the stormy seas