Hurricane Gustav, about to slam the Gulf Coast near New Orleans, is bringing back memories of Hurricane Katrina for local residents who traveled to the Bayou three years ago to help EVE Online Isk the area recover.Ellen Duprey, who worked the night shift as a volunteer nurse for the American Red Cross in Baton Rouge, remembers the need for more than meds."These people were very vulnerable and came to the clinic because they couldn't sleep," said Duprey of Uxbridge. "They needed to talk."

One woman talked about her rescue from rising waters. "She thought her mother, fiance and children were with her but when she looked back, they weren't there and she had no idea where they were," said Duprey,  Po WoW who prayed with many survivors. "Only God knows the rest of the story. I pray that if Gustav hits, they will be safe."Duprey, a nurse with Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Westborough, said if the storm hits and she can get time off from work, she plans to return to the area to help.

The 5 p.m. update from the National Weather Service yesterday reported Gustav's location at 215 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The weather service expects Gustav, which is traveling at 18 mph, to make landfall just west of New Orleans sometime in the morning, with maximum winds of 115 mph."Gustav is forecast to increase a little in intensity before landfall," said Joe Dellicarpini, spokesman for the weather service.Holly Veum of Ashland, also a volunteer for the American Red Cross, delivered food to victims in New Orleans three months after Katrina.

"There were so many people talking about how they hung on to their homes for hours while they floated in the water," said Veum, who returned to New Orleans  years later to build a home with Habitat for Humanity. She was amazed at the changes, but struck by what still needed to be done.Peter Judge, public spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said it plans to help the South, while protecting the East EVE Online Isk Coast from the wrath of a new hurricane, Hanna. Judge said Saturday it sent two logistics staff members to the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge, to coordinate anticipated needs.

"The East Coast states are resistant to send down assets, so we are protected here in case Hanna hits," said Judge. "Hanna is not headed to the Caribbean but it is expected to be an Atlantic Storm, so we don't want to leave ourselves short. Once the storm hits, MEMA will re-evaluate. Many federal assets are down there already."The National Weather Service reported it expects Hanna to hit Georgia Friday afternoon as a Category 1, with rain and wind about 75 mph and potentially head up the East Coast. "Next weekend, expect to see rain," he added.

Lonnie Swarz, a member of the steering committee for the Wayland to Waveland Hurricane Katrina Relief Project, recalls helping a woman named Sarah plant a memorial garden for her sister-in-law, husband and two mentally challenged teens."One of the teens was incontinent and she was afraid if they went to a shelter, he would be made fun of," said Wayland's Swarz, who helped with the relief effort six or seven times. "They touched our lives greatly. We established personal relationships with them.

"The last e-mail Swarz received from Sarah was Friday, in which she stated, "I'm not going to let Gustav scare me," said Swarz. "Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with them. They really are our brothers and sisters."Tom Fay, chairman of the steering committee, spoke to Tommy Lango, who served as mayorEVE Online Isk of Waveland, Miss., during Katrina and was re-elected."They evacuated residents who have been living in temporary FEMA-like trailers since Katrina," said Fay. "Those trailers couldn't handle a tropical storm, never mind a hurricane.

 Sunday they began evacuating the entire town."John Chickering, team leader for the Franklin United Methodist Church in Franklin, which went to the Pearlington Recovery Center in Mississippi in 2006, 2007 and 2008. On the last three trips, First United Methodist Church of Framingham joined the group to help make repairs in homes and offices at the center."We are still recovering from Katrina," said Franklin resident Chickering, who heard estimates the recovery could take five to 10 years."The thought of them getting hit again, I can't imagine what those people are going through again," said Veum.