WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from Hurricane Katrina rose to 657 on Tuesday, with Louisiana updating its number of deaths to 423 from 279 a day earlier.

    The Health Department of Louisiana confirmed 144 additional deaths, as floodwaters receded and rescue workers were able to get into more areas in the city of New Orleans.

    To date there were 423 confirmed deaths from the hurricane in Louisiana, 218 in Mississippi, two in Alabama and 14 in Florida, news reports said, quoting officials in the different states.

    New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin estimated in the early days after the city was hit by Katrina that there might be as many as 10,000 deaths in the city alone, as over 80 percent of the city proper was under flood water.

    It was too early to tell the final death toll in New Orleans, where nearly 40 percent of the city was still under water, and it would take days, perhaps weeks, to drain the flood water in the city.

    Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were hit by Hurricane Katrina in late August, causing heavy human and economiclosses. Enditem