Hurricane Ike swirled west Friday, hitting western Louisiana and eastern Texas with a storm surge that breached levees and caused widespread flooding in Terrebonne Parish and St. Mary Parish and in communities outside the levee system in the New Orleans region.

Venetian Isles residents in the waterfront neighborhood get lots of water from Hurricane Ike

• View power outage map released by Gov's Office of Homeland Security.

STATEWIDE

-- About 828,982 of Entergy's customers in Louisiana were without power at some point. As of 5:30 pm Tuesday, power had been restored to about 680,000, or 82 percent of those who had lost electricity.

Susan Poag / The Times-PicayuneA line began to form around 2 a.m. at the Alario Center in Westwego Wednesday, as thousands showed up at the new site to apply for emergency food stamp relief. With the help of Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, National Guard, Jefferson Parish workers and Homeland Security, the was orderly and the line was flowing. Water, bathroom facilities, and emergency medical help was available.

The state secretary of Social Services took the blame this morning as confusion began to ease over getting emergency food stamps to tens of thousands of victims of Hurricane Gustav.

The personal economic toll from the evacuation for Hurricane Gustav emerged in full force Tuesday as thousands of southeast Louisiana residents lined up for public and private relief, saying their treks to safety had pushed them to the financial brink.

Here is a list of scheduled school reopenings in the New Orleans area. The list will be updated as new information is received.

In the week since Hurricane Gustav struck, local utilities have restored power to all but about 5 percent of the 495,103 electricity customers in the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Strays and court case animals moved out of the Louisiana SPCA's Algiers shelter before Hurricane Gustav to temporary quarters in Baton Rouge will remain there until the agency is confident that Hurricane Ike poses no threat to the New Orleans area, SPCA director Ana Zorrilla said Monday.

The American Red Cross Southeast Louisiana Chapter today announced additional shelters and feeding locations in southeast Louisiana.

A group of 30 firefighters from the New Orleans area set out Sunday afternoon to storm-battered Terrebonne Parish to help with firefighting and other emergency response situations in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

BATON ROUGE -- State and parish officials by mid-day Sunday were operating 55 centers distributing food, ice, water and tarps to victims of Hurricane Gustav and those who were still without utilities.

Several Orleans Parish charter schools will reopen Monday, officials said.

In the wake of Hurricane Gustav, regular transit service will resume Monday, the Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans announced.

Classes will resume at McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School, 1651 North Tonti St., on Monday. Students who normally ride the school buses will be picked up at their regular bus stops. Breakfast will be served beginning at 7:30 a.m. Students who are absent due to problems returning from Hurricane Gustav evacuations will be excused with a parental request for the emergency.