hurricane gustav

CHALMETTE, La. (AP) — A big sign at the harbor here encourages: "Think Positive, St. Bernard!" But after three years in a government trailer, Beth Basile is finding that hard to do.

Nearly every structure in St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, was damaged or destroyed when the earthen levees protecting the area failed during Hurricane Katrina. Basile was about a month away from finding out whether a grant would come through to finally redo the floors and replace the asbestos siding on the two-bedroom house she and her husband, Bubby, were renting to own.

Hurricane Gustav — predicted to be at least a Category 3 when it makes landfall along the Gulf Coast — was just a few days away from striking. As she prepared to evacuate, she wondered whether there would be anything left.

"If it's like Katrina, they might not let us back," says the 52-year-old old Wal-Mart cashier, her eyes baggy and smudged with worry. "They might put a fence around the whole parish and say, `Go away.'"

In places like St. Bernard Parish, the Lower 9th Ward, and trailer parks along the Gulf Coast, those still reeling from Katrina are now the most vulnerable to Hurricane Gustav.

About 1 million people along the Gulf Coast took to the highways Saturday amid forecasts that Gustav had strengthened into a Category 4 storm and was on a course to hit Monday afternoon somewhere between the East Texas and western Mississippi. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered the mandatory evacuation of the that city beginning Sunday morning.

In St. Bernard, Gary Sass wasn't taking any chances. He performed last-minute oil changes on the family's car and truck in preparation for leaving. His wife Deana's shirt was soaked through from her efforts to make room in the truck for their belongings, two dogs and four rabbits. They left two rabbits behind in 2005, and they drowned.

The family's red and white house looks as good as new. But Sass owes a $40,000 small business loan, and his mortgage isn't getting any lower.

"I'm trying to be optimistic," the 46-year-old construction worker said, rubbing grease from his hands. "But Kentucky's looking better and better."

The Sasses' neighborhood, like most in St. Bernard, is still a patchwork of renovated homes, government trailers and empty slabs. The gate on the house next door to the Sasses still bears a bright red "X" left by rescuers searching for survivors after Katrina; a yellow sign with another red "X" hangs in the window, marking the home for "involuntary demolition."

Across the street, Maria DiMaggio lacked just a little electrical work before being able to move back into her two-bedroom home. The 42-year-old disabled woman was working to beat a Sept. 15 deadline to vacate the government trailer she shares with her 83-year-old father, Joe.

"We've got floors — beautiful brand-new floors," she said as her three dogs milled around the kitchen cot where she sleeps. "I mean, my house is not even finished and, then, what? It's going to float away again?"

All but one of her four siblings left the parish after Katrina. If Gustav destroys her house again, she says she will follow them.

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