As the Gulf Coast struggled to recover from the August 29 hurricane, the death toll rose to 648 in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti filed criminal charges against the operators of a nursing home where 34 patients died after they were trapped by the storm's floodwaters. The cities of Gretna, Westwego and Lafitte, all suburbs of New Orleans, told residents they could come back at daybreak.