Sarah Cullen’s mother waits at the Oschner Hospital in Jefferson Parish as Hurricane Gustav rages outside. Cullen’s mother suffered a serious back injury less than two weeks ago and is not able to evacuate the hospital, located in an area of New Orleans at highest risk for levee breach and flooding. ‘My dad said it didn’t feel right to leave,’ said Cullen, an undeclared freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘I’m just afraid that if something happens to the hospital, what are they going to do? How are they going to move her?’ Cullen met with freshman Alexander Amadeo and sophomore Mia McClain, all from New Orleans, Sunday afternoon in the Panasci Lounge in the Schine Student Center. For these three Syracuse students, Gustav’s strength brings much more than wind: it brings back all of the pain and memories of Hurricane Katrina. As more than two million people fled from the Gulf Coast, word of Gustav’s power spread fear throughout the southern states on the third anniversary of Katrina, the costliest storm in United States history. Three years ago, more than 15 million people were affected by Hurricane Katrina: 400,000 jobs were lost; 600,000 pets killed or left homeless; 275,000 homes destroyed and an estimated 2,000 people dead, according to government Web sites. While employment and construction have resumed, the threat of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans loomed, reminding residents of the power of the waters that neighbor them. ‘I think it makes it worse that it’s hitting on this weekend, this day,’ Cullen said. The students sat on the couches reminiscing about running out of emergency food and money, supporting each other as power and communication lines were cut off along the Gulf Coast. ‘I always leave thinking I’ll never see my house again,’ said McClain, a sophomore music theory major. ‘I take everything with me everywhere I go. I can’t leave any more important stuff. I can’t go through that again.’ McClain lost her house and all her possessions in the 2005 category 4 hurricane, and prepares for the possibility of reliving the same trauma, on the same day, three years later. As of Monday night, nearly a million people were without power in Louisiana and Mississippi, and several hundred homes were affected by levee breaches in southern New Orleans. ‘We just fixed the damages to our house,’ McClain said. ‘To think that this could all be undone, it’s scary.’ During Katrina, McClain, Cullen and Amadeo evacuated New Orleans and watched the damage broadcasted on national television. ‘We slept in a hotel parking lot for the first night because we couldn’t get a hotel,’ McClain said. ‘My uncle was in the Superdome, and we had family scattered throughout Louisiana. I’ve lost everything before – I’m not ready for it again.’ More than 20,000 people stayed in the Superdome while Katrina washed away the Gulf Coast, leaving many with no water, food or sanitary place to live and sleep. Now, separated from their families by more than a thousand miles, glued to the TV, the students reflect on the last time they were forced to leave their homes behind. ‘I didn’t want to leave,’ Sarah said. ‘I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I couldn’t believe how wrong I was.’ Cullen and McClain missed four months of school after the storm destroyed most of Orleans Parish – their hometown. ‘I don’t think it registered how bad it was until I got back,’ Cullen said. ‘It was total chaos. I couldn’t believe that this was my home.’ Grabbing tissues, biting her lip and beginning to cry, Cullen confesses one of her biggest fears: if the city’s levees break again, there would be a large percentage of people who might not return home. ‘The fact that people have to go through it all over again, evacuate every time a storm hits, it’s frustrating,’ Cullen said. ‘Who would be left in the city if it happened again? What would we do?’ Despite the possibility of another hit, Amadeo, who attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, hopes for the best. He encouraged Cullen and McClain to have faith that the storm will pass, and New Orleans would survive the weather. ‘I’m nervous, of course,’ Amadeo said, holding his Bible tightly in his lap. ‘I have a lot of family in New Orleans. I was out of my house for four months, but I know it will be alright.’ Amadeo sees Gustav as a test, but also a chance to show how strong the city has become and how New Orleans will rise again. ‘I don’t think people will give up,’ Amadeo said. ‘It’s going to be such a depression, yeah, but it’s a really cool city. You can’t give up on that.’

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