GONZALES - The heartbreaking task of sorting through waterlogged belongings and ripping out carpets and drywall is kicking into high gear in flood-wracked southern Louisiana.

Residents will continue going back to their homes Wednesday, assessing damage and getting to work on repairs, in areas where the waters have receded enough.

Downstream many are eyeing swollen rivers to see whether more damage is coming.

Hundreds of people evacuated to a shelter in Ascension Parish as the river water that hit areas around Baton Rouge worked its way south.

The state also faces a long-term challenge of how to house the thousands of displaced people and how to pay for the damage the water left behind.