Updated 03 October 2002, 20.40

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But the storm was downgraded by weathermen from a very dangerous category four to a category one as it came nearer to the US state of Louisiana.

Almost 500,000 Americans were told to leave their homes to escape it got closer to land.

Lili had devastated the nearby island of Cuba earlier and experts were worried about its strength as it hit the US mainland.

Forecasters say it could still do lots of damage and people should stay indoors though.

The hurricane has already forced Nasa to postpone a space shuttle launch because the storm was closing in on mission control in Houston, Texas.

 Click here to read how the hurricane stopped the shuttle launch

Lili started out as a tropical storm on Monday but quickly grew into a much more dangerous hurricane.

It's not the only storm to affect the area, with Hurricane Isidore in the region two weeks ago and Tropical Storm Kyle - currently in the Atlantic Ocean - threatening to get stronger.

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	Hurricane causes problems for shuttle launch
	Weather satellite blasts into space
	Five killed in hurricane Michelle

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