NEW ORLEANS — The government's point man for the Gulf spill plans to meet with coastal parish officials today to talk about what's next now that the oil has stopped flowing.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said crews are having trouble finding patches of the crude that had been washing up on beaches and coating delicate coastal wetlands since the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 people.

Though no one knows for sure how much oil might be lurking below the surface, most of what was coming ashore has broken up or been sucked up by skimming boats or burned.

"The oil that we do see is weathered, it is sheen," Allen said.

Barring a calamity, the oil won't start flowing again before BP PLC can permanently kill the well, which could happen as soon as mid-August. Allen said the Coast Guard expects oil to keep showing up on beaches four to six weeks after that happens.

A tally of beaches hurt by the oil from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle found they've been closed or slapped with health warnings more than 2,200 times through this week since the spill started. Many beaches were spared, but the environmental group National Resources Defense Council said there was no clear downward trend yet since the oil was capped July 15.

In Orange Beach, Ala., Jack Raborn said he didn't see any tar balls when he went to the shore Wednesday with friends and family. But when they entered the ocean, he said, the water was tainted.

"It feels like you've got diesel fuel on you. It's sticky," said Raborn, 49. "I was optimistic before today. I'm really disturbed by what I found once we got in the water."

Allen said once oil stops for good, the Coast Guard may start redeploying some of the 11 million feet of boom, 811 oil skimmers and 40,000 people that have been part of the oil spill response. Many of the workers are fishermen who have lost their livelihoods because of the spill.

Crews have taken a crucial step toward readying the relief well they need to permanently stop the oil, removing a plug they had popped in to keep the well safe ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie.

Allen also said Wednesday that a temporary cap put on the busted well two weeks ago is holding firm. Before that, it spewed 94 million to 184 million gallons of oil.

Crews are taking every precaution as they work toward a permanent fix.

"We have always asked for a backup plan for the backup plan," he said. "This relief well, while it is deep, it is something that has been done before. Obviously the depth is an issue here. But we are confident we are going to get this thing done."