WICHITA, Kansas, September 1, 2008-Jose Rivas hasn't wandered far from his t-v the last several days. He didn't budge from the couch Monday, as Gustav started battering his old hometown of New Orleans.

"It feels real bad," Jose said after watching the television coverage Monday.

Jose has felt helpless, wishing he could help loved ones who've evacuated the Big Easy.         

"Every day, I am talking to my mom, my sister, talking to cousins," Jose said.  "To figure out how they are, if they need help, they can come here to Wichita."

He's especially worried about his mom, who moved to Wichita with him after losing her home to Katrina. But she still spends the summers in New Orleans.  "She was the one who lost most of her things in New Orleans," Jose said. "She's going back through that same situation."

Jose also says Gustav has had him experiencing Katrina flashbacks.   

"The struggle, making phone calls, trying to get all of your family together, trying to see where they're going to go," Jose said.

After Katrina, Jose didn't know what he and his family were going to do. They had relatives in Wichita, and decided to head north. It was a great decision.
  
In 2006, KSN was there when Habitat for Humanity broke ground on a new home for the Rivas family on Water Street in southeast Wichita.

Jose has also become an American citizen, and has a good job with Cessna. His wife's going back to school. Despite their good fortune, his wife got very homesick recently and wanted to move back to New Orleans. When Gustav hit, Jose told her: "You see what we would have went through if we would have followed your ideas?" It's just moments. You cannot forget about where you have come from."

But both love Wichita, and agree this is where they will stay.

Once things calm down in New Orleans, Jose says he will step up of his efforts to try and get loved ones to move to Wichita. Not only because he loves living here so much, but also because, he believes it's just a matter of time before another big hurricane moves through the Big Easy.