August 30, 2008 Family that narrowly escaped Katrina, prepares for Gustav Play video

(Josh Brogadir, NECN) - Those along the Gulf Coast are preparing in the event that Gustav does come ashore next week. From the Florida panhandle to Eastern Texas, the National Guard is on standby in the event Gustav hits.

Those displaced by Katrina three years ago are holding their breath. Josh Brogadir spoke with one Massachusetts family who was in the path of Katrina, and is leaving the potential path of Gustav before he arrives.

The Perry family got out of New Orleans just in time years ago, sleeping on floors in gymnasiums and hotels as they fled Louisiana. They say this time there's more preparation in place, for whatever Gustav brings to the Gulf.

As Deborah Holland Perry sits in her Boston apartment building, she can't help but think how eerily similar this all is... worrying, waiting for the onslaught of another major storm 1500 miles away in New Orleans.
Only this time, she's home.

Deborah: "The unknown is the scariest. And that was very frightening for us. This time around we were more prepared."

Perry's son Everett is not home. He's a senior at Tulane University. Three years ago, the Perrys were dropping him off for Freshman year when Hurricane Katrina hit. He went to the University of Colorado for one semester then returned to Tulane. We spoke with the 2005 Wellesley High School graduate by phone from the airport in New Orleans.

Everett: "Surprisingly, the airport isn't that busy. I heard, or actually I witnessed

But it's not just son who has a story to tell from August 2005. His mother and father got out in a rental car just before the storm hit.

Deborah: "They were shutting the lights off. And I'm not even exaggerating, we got the last car and oh did I thank them. We started traveling towards Texas."

This time, Everett had the responsibility of boarding up his off campus apartment, getting ready to leave like much of the rest of the city.

University officials are not taking any chances. They closed down Tulane Friday afternoon. It will remain shut down through Thursday.
So for now, Everett is off to Chicago - through Dallas - to visit his girlfriend.

Everett: "In the event that I can't go back and the city has to go through a disaster again, you know, I'm going to have to go buy all new clothes and start a new life somewhere else until I can get back to New Orleans. It's a daunting idea but you've just got to hope for the best."

Everett Perry also said that the amazing people of New Orleans are the only people who could go through this much and still want to live there.
And despite his interrupted freshman year, Everett is on track to graduate with a bachelors in Asian Studies and a Masters in finance in just five years.

Officials in Louisiana said a citywide evacuation of New Orleans could come as soon as Sunday. The state has a 7-million dollar contract to provide hundreds of buses to get out the elderly, the sick and anyone without transportation. The Superdome will not be open. Emergency workers say people who stay behind are on their own.