In warfare, it's generally not a good idea to prepare for the last war. With hurricanes, this time at least, the opposite was true.

Federal, state and local disaster officials spent the weekend preparing for Hurricane Gustav as if the storm were Armageddon, or at least the second coming of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, having underplayed the threat posed by Katrina three years ago, went the opposite direction this time, warning his citizens that Gustav was the "mother of all storms," that being scared was the right response and that looters would be sent directly to the dreaded Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

New Orleans all but emptied out on Saturday and Sunday. Buses, trains and private cars hauled more than a quarter of a million people to shelters as far away as Arkansas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which became a national joke in the wake of Katrina three years ago, this time reacted decisively and effectively. Medical and relief supplies were pre-positioned. Some 50,000 National Guard troops were put on alert.

President George W. Bush went on full alert, too. The president's belated response to Katrina in 2005 cost him whatever political capital the Iraq War didn't. He would not make the same mistake this time, nor would Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who hopes to succeed him.

On Monday, Bush flew to Texas for briefings instead of flying to St. Paul, Minn., to address Monday's opening session of the Republican National Convention. That was after McCain, who visited the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday, and other party leaders ordered the cancellation of most events on Monday's convention schedule. The GOP would not been seen partying while New Orleans was drowning.

Tuesday-morning quarterbacks might suggest they over-reacted, but in truth, they made the only decision possible, both in humanitarian and political terms.

Hurricanes are notoriously fickle. Katrina took a hard right turn just before landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, coming ashore east of New Orleans. The city briefly thought that was good news, but Katrina's 28-foot storm surge overrode the city's levees. This time, Gustav veered away from New Orleans and rode west along the coastline, giving up intensity before coming ashore in the bayous south of Houma. New Orleans got some wind and rain, but not nearly so much storm surge. The levees, strengthened since Katrina, apparently held.

Gustav was not the mother of all storms. It was a big one, but certainly not "the big one." As years and hurricane seasons go by, the trick will be to convince those who feel foolish because they evacuated that they actually made wise decisions. New Orleans remains a city built in the wrong place, in a bowl just off the Gulf of Mexico. Over-reaction is the only prudent course, but you can only play the "Mother of All Storms" card so many times.

As for McCain, the hurricane probably is a wash. He gains as many political points for being sensitive and un-Bush-like as he loses giving up Monday night media coverage. Plus, he got to cancel speeches scheduled Monday night by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Eight years after they first were nominated by their party, the president and vice president are so deeply unpopular and controversial that some of McCain's advisers didn't want them to speak at the convention. On the other hand, to have left them off the program entirely would have antagonized many Republicans. For McCain, Gustav was an ill wind that blew at least some good.

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