While most New Orleanians suffered little damage from the hurricane, residents and property owners along a stormy lakefront faced major damage.

Pounding whitecaps and a relentless north wind nearly wiped out a historic collection of camps along Hayne Boulevard in eastern New Orleans. In the Little Woods area near Paris Road, storm waters undermined a section of railroad track, jeopardizing rail service there.

By late afternoon, flood waters covered much of the West End section. Bruning's Seafood Restaurant, dating to 1859, was sheared in half and part of the recently closed Fitzgerald's restaurant collapsed.

Most of the city received only a glancing blow. Tree limbs fell across yards and streets, often knocking down utility lines. Electricity was out in many neighborhoods through the day.

Streets were nearly deserted, with police enforcing a curfew until late Monday, when evacuees began swarming back to their homes, despite continuing warnings about foul weather.

New Orleans public schools and Archdiocese of New Orleans schools are scheduled to be closed today to allow time for cleanup and damage assessment.

Throughout the Central Business District and French Quarter, there was little activity Monday. Sheets of rain slapped into shuttered storefronts. Outside the Hilton Riverside, the usual line of taxis and airport shuttles had been replaced by a guests walking their dogs.

While most city residents were trying to get home and get the power back on, owners of camps along Hayne Boulevard saw that their rustic houses had disappeared into the roiling surf. Within several hours early Monday, splintered lumber and floating furniture were all that remained of most camps

At West End, structures that have long weathered storms fell apart. The 17th Street Canal was littered with wood and other debris from Bruning's restaurant.

"We had no idea it was going to be so bad," said Jimmy Bruning Urrate, 51, an owner who has worked 38 years at the well-known seafood restaurant. "We figured we would have minor damage, but not a total loss like this."

Urrate said Bruning's will be rebuilt.

At Jaeger's Seafood Beer Garden nearby, owner Allen Jaeger holed up in the building during the storm, hoping to protect it. The Fitzgerald's restaurant building, which Jaeger owns, is probably too badly damaged to save, he said.

"At least half of it's in the lake," Jaeger said. "I would say we have about $75,000 in damages to that building."

Jaeger said damage to West End buildings was caused in part by a tornadolike wind that roared through at about 1 a.m.

Flood water covered landing strips at Lakefront Airport, reaching the wings of some parked airplanes.

There also were reports of extensive damage to homes in the Venetian Isles subdivision and at Lake Catherine. Authorities were trying to assess the damage late Monday.