With the tidal surge from Hurricane Ike slowly retreating to Bayou Barataria, residents returning to the Lafitte, Barataria and Crown Point communities Monday found a scene eerily similar to the one left behind by Hurricane Rita three years ago.

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.

GALVESTON, TEXAS -- As Hurricane Ike bore down on this barrier island city, emergency officials estimated that 40 percent of its residents stayed behind despite strong warnings to flee.

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

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. and members of the Parish Council announced a voluntary evacuation of the area of St. Bernard Parish outside the hurricane protection levees Wednesday evening.

The New Orleans area is expected to experience wind and rain over the next few days as a result of Hurricane Ike's presence in the Gulf of Mexico, but not much else.

A strengthening Hurricane Ike began its northwestward jaunt across the warm Gulf of Mexico towards an early Saturday landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph.

Hurricane Ike is still affecting the Lower Florida Keys and western Cuba.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect from west of Key West to the Dry Tortugas.

Though it has entered the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ike is still pounding western Cuba with tropical storm force winds and heavy rains.

At 4 a.m. the tropical storm warning from Key West eastward has been discontinued. A tropical storm warning remains in effect from west of Key West to the Dry Tortugas.

Information from the National Weather Service

At 10 p.m., the center of Hurricane Ike was located near latitude 23.2 north, longitude 84.3 west, about 120 miles west of Havana, Cuba.

Ike is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph, and this general motion is expected to continue for the next day or two.

At 10 p.m., the government of Cuba has changed the hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning for the Cuban provinces of Matanzas, La Habana, Ciudad de Habana, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth.

At 10 p.m., the tropical storm warning for Florida Bay and for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge is discontinued. A tropical storm warning remains in effect from west of the Seven Mile Bridge westward to the Dry Tortugas.

Data from a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds are near 80 mph with higher gusts. Ike is a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Strengthening is expected, and Ike could become a major hurricane in the central Gulf of Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center's forecast cone of error for Hurricane Ike extends from just east of Lake Charles down the Texas coast into Mexico. It does not include any part of the New Orleans area.

Information from the National Weather Service

At 7 p.m. the center of Hurricane Ike was located near latitude 23.1 north, longitude 84.0 west, about 95 miles west of Havana, Cuba.

A hurricane warning remains in effect for the Cuban provinces of Matanzas, La Habana, Ciudad de Habana, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef southward to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay.

Hurricane Ike is forecast to hit the central Texas coastline after midnight Friday halfway between Corpus Christi and Galveston as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Information from the National Weather Service

Hurricane Ike has prompted a hurricane warning for the Cuban provinces of Matanzas, La Habana, Ciudad de Habana, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef southward to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay.

At 4 p.m. the center of Hurricane Ike was located just off the northern coast of western Cuba near latitude 22.9 north, longitude 83.8 west or about 90 miles west-southwest of Havana, Cuba.

Ike is moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next day or two.

Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph with higher gusts. Ike is a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Now that Ike has emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, strengthening is expected and Ike could become a major hurricane in the central Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175 miles.

Coastal storm surge flooding of 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels, along with large and dangerous battering waves, can be expected in areas of onshore winds along the northern and southern coasts of Cuba. Storm surge flooding of 1 to 3 feet along with large and dangerous waves are possible in the Florida Keys.