As hurricanes go, Gustav doesn’t seem to be as mean as Katrina, according to some sources. No anger. No looting. Minimal damage.

In Marshall, Texas, about 30 miles from Shreveport, La., Red Cross volunteer Shoba Brown said things are still hectic but everyone, for the most part, is in good humor.

“All I see is smiles all around me, it’s all upbeat,” the St. Joseph woman said. “The evacuees want to go home, of course, but in general everyone seems cooperative, everything is very manageable.”

Ms. Brown said she didn’t work Hurricane Katrina but volunteered for Hurricane Wilma in Florida that same year. Some fellow volunteers and officials in the area who worked Katrina tell her things are better this time around.

“They say thing have gone a lot smoother than Katrina did. There are some small glitches but things have gone a lot smoother,” she said.

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region in 2005, it was considered one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. In its aftermath, it left behind a wake of anger and destruction. People were mad at the slow government response. Tensions mounted even higher as thousands lost their homes to floodwaters and their possessions to looting. More than 30,000 people were crammed into the Louisiana Superdome.

Hurricane Gustav also is a different storm from Katrina so far. Whereas Katrina made a direct hit on New Orleans, Gustav went more toward the west of the area. Katrina was also a much stronger hurricane.

Larry Payne, a Red Cross volunteer from St. Joseph who worked Katrina and is now stationed in Monroe, La., with his wife, Audrey, said there isn’t nearly the damage there was in the previous hurricane.

“At least we haven’t got the damage as Katrina and people are a little more relaxed and easier to get along with, I think,” Mr. Payne said. “Everything seems to be going well.”

Alonzo Weston can be reached at alonzow@npgco.com.