When a hurricane comes through it's always a bad day, or night, for someone. So our relief amid the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav has to be strictly relative. The storm that battered Louisiana over Labor Day did a sobering amount of damage and cost some Americans, eight at last count, their lives after a far deadlier Caribbean rampage.

But three years after the catastrophe of Katrina, much went right. This time, the dividends from careful, competent disaster preparations were realized -- a perennial object lesson for states and communities where hurricanes prowl.

North Carolinians, whose attention now turns to Hanna's anticipated arrival by week's end (whether or not as a hurricane still to be determined), know the story and know the drill. Get ready. Stay alert. Plan prudently for the worst and hope that overall, it doesn't turn out to be as bad as it could have been.

And even when your family or town has been spared, remember that your giddy "whew" is probably somebody else's anguished "Oh, no!" There will be neighbors, either nearby or perhaps a few counties over, who need your help. Just as they did when Fran, Floyd and Isabel each glared an evil eye, and when generous Tar Heels came to each other's aid.

Still, as crucial as that sort of volunteer assistance can be, coping with a full-blown natural disaster requires expert planning and follow-through by emergency management authorities at all levels. That's what was conspicuously lacking as Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast in 2005. With thousands stranded as New Orleans' levees broke and roof-high floodwaters claimed whole neighborhoods, the scale of misery and death was appalling.

This time, that didn't happen. The storm wasn't as severe, true enough. But officials, from President Bush on down, worked hard not to repeat a fiasco for which they had paid a steep price politically.

The word went out to New Orleans residents and folks across southern Louisiana -- get out of harm's way. Vehicles packed with families and their belongings clogged the interstates, and those who didn't have cars were put aboard buses and trains. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was on top of the action, as was Louisiana's new governor, Bobby Jindal. Military units stood at the ready, along with first responders. Throughout Gustav's impact zone, the picture was a far cry from the delay, confusion and suffering that became Katrina's agonizing hallmarks.

And yet -- New Orleans in particular was left to ponder its possible fate if Gustav had been a few notches more violent, or struck the city directly. Until (and unless) flood-control structures are engineered that can reliably withstand another Katrina-style hit, the city will continue struggling to regain its viability.

Thousands of residents aren't thinking in those terms today. They are glad they're safe. They're glad their homes are standing as they left them. They're glad the flood never came. Their return will carry its own risks, especially if power has not been restored. But as North Carolinians know, the urge to look after the homestead and help neighbors get their lives back together is strong. If we're lucky, we won't see again this week just how strong.

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