Officials say floodwaters are receding slowly in western St. Mary Parish, allowing residents of 1,000 flooded homes to get their first assessment of the damage brought on by Hurricane Ike’s surge.

Water has been pumped out of some areas, St. Mary Parish Director of Homeland Security Arthur Duval said Sunday, with water still standing in about 450 homes.

The flooding, caused by breaches in three levees, is worse than Hurricane Rita in 2005, which flooded more than 400 homes, Arthur said.

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Floodwater along the Bayou Teche reached homes in parts of Franklin, St. Joseph, Centerville and Garden City, and also forced an emergency evacuation of 115 nursing home patients, 16 of them with critical needs, to Franklin Foundation Hospital. Arthur said the patients returned to the nursing home Sunday.

Roads to Cypremort Point were impassable, but Arthur said he hoped to get there Sunday afternoon to gauge flood levels.

Cypremort Point is protected by a 7-foot levee, but needs to be at least 10 feet, Arthur said.

“We’ve had it (the levee) breach before at Cypremort Point,” Arthur said. “It’s certainly not adequate to protect it from this kind of storm.”

Rural homes around Yellow Bayou also were affected by the storm surge, Arthur said.

Three shelters were set up before the storm, two of them closing Saturday and the third closing by Sunday. The shelters housed 186 people from the area, Arthur said.

“People either went back to work on their homes or are staying with families while they work on their homes,” he said.

Arthur has requested emergency cleanup kits from the Red Cross for flooded homes, but most stores are open for people to purchase supplies, he said. The kit includes 13 items for cleaning or disinfecting, including a wet mop, broom, large bucket and garbage bags.

The Red Cross is offering vinyl gloves and dust masks, according to its Web site.

Sign-up sites for the FEMA Blue Roof Program and the state Emergency Food Stamp Program reopen today at three locations: Franklin Recreation Center in Franklin, Sacred Heart Church Hall in Morgan City and the West St. Mary Civic Center on Louisiana 318 near Jeanerette.

St. Mary Parish Councilman Butch Middleton said floodwaters on Iberia and Willis streets in Franklin appear to be falling quickly, and said he believes Hurricane Ike brought less destruction than Hurricane Gustav two weeks ago.

“We seem to be getting back to normal,” he said.

There were no reported injuries or fatalities in St. Mary Parish, Arthur said, but Ike is blamed for two deaths in Louisiana, according to The Associated Press.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Saturday night 600 Louisiana residents had to be rescued from flooded areas, according to The Associated Press.