For those looking to rebound, a setback

Hurricane Gustav could not have come at a worse time for Sherry West. The 36-year-old Boston resident was planning to return to New Orleans in the next few months and had sent her 16- and 14-year-old sons there a few weeks ago to stay with her parents to begin the school year.

But Saturday night her parents loaded up a car, took her sons, and fled for Georgia, leaving behind a foundation recently poured for a new home to replace the one lost during Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

And now West is unsure about returning to the Big Easy.

"I'm so worried," said West, who along with her family stayed for several days in the convention center when Katrina struck. "I hope they make their way up here."

West was among local Hurricane Katrina survivors, who were relieved yesterday that relatives in New Orleans had left the city ahead of Gustav but are worried about them returning once the storm passes.

"Will they still have the energy to rebuild in an area that hasn't recovered yet from Hurricane Katrina?" said Deborah Barabino, 51, who relocated three years ago to Mattapan with her elderly mother and a nephew, now 12. "Three years later, they are still discussing the post-traumatic stress of that storm."

Hurricane Katrina caused more than 1,400 deaths and billions of dollars in damage, forcing more than 1,100 evacuees to come to Massachusetts. Already, Gustav has killed more than 80 people and caused millions of dollars in damage as it passed through the Caribbean, and forecasters said yesterday afternoon that Gustav could deliver a powerful punch to the Gulf region.

"I think it's unbelievable that three short years after Katrina this community is faced with another horrific situation," said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, a pastor at Union Baptist Church in Cambridge who has worked with Katrina evacuees.

"One of the things I was astounded by when the Katrina situation happened was the resiliency of the people and their faith in God that things would get better," Brown said. "With a tragedy as big as Katrina, I thought they would be broken in faith. I imagine that faith will come through again."

Barabino said her family decided not to test fate with their lives by staying in New Orleans. Yesterday morning, two sisters drove to Atlanta and a third sister headed to Dallas. Her brother, who requires regular dialysis for a failing kidney, left for Jackson, Miss., Saturday night.

"They learned their lessons," said Barabino.

During Katrina, the family got split up during evacuation. A sister went to get soda, just as the family was planning to leave. They searched for her, but could not locate her. With the storm quickly approaching, they made the painful decision to go.

The sister remained in the city through the storm and its aftermath, sleeping in Barabino's car, which was parked on the highest story of a parking garage - out of reach of the flood waters. She had been stocked with emergency supplies, including bottled water. Eventually, she left and reunited with the family.

Barabino, who came to Boston because another sister lived here, said she was happy that evacuation this time around appeared to have gone smoothly for her family.

"We believe God will take care of us, which he did the last time," Barabino said.

Throughout much of yesterday, Pamela Gillard, 56, of Newton, prayed for her 23-year-old son, mother-in-law, and other family members as they left New Orleans - some bound for Dallas, some to Mississippi.

Mandatory evacuation along with media reports on Gustav's destruction in the Caribbean persuaded them to abandon their initial plans to hunker down in New Orleans. "At least I know they are out of harm's way," Gillard said.