AURORA, Colo. -- Colorado help is on the way to the hurricane zone on the Gulf Coast and it may not be Gustav that gets most of their attention. Several storms could demand action and help from Colorado resources, which have already been dispatched to the area, although fewer resources were sent than originally requested.

Colorado FEMA Task Force One made it to Lafayette, La., on Tuesday but will spend the night in Houston, Texas. It's becoming almost routine for the state's best-trained search and rescue and military personnel.

At Buckley Air Force base in Aurora, Colo., two Chinook helicopters took off for Baton Rouge to help distribute food and water to Gustav's affected areas. But the troops are down to 20 people from the 30 that were originally ordered. Two Black Hawk helicopters were also left behind.

"It may even actually be a little smaller than that by the time we get it going," said Col. Joel Best of the Colorado Army National Guard.

Because Gustav is weaker and no longer a hurricane, the troops and search crews could be deployed elsewhere.

"It's been a little squally here. Occasionally, a band of storms will come through, drop a lot of wind, a lot of rain," said Ricardo Zuniga, a FEMA spokesman with Colorado's 70-person urban search and rescue team, called CO-TF 1.

Both spokesmen say their people are more than happy to mobilize and wait, rather than deal with the death and chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"No, by no means are we disappointed," Zuniga said. "The fact that we are not needed really reflects well on the preparations of the community. And the fact that we're not out there having to rescue folks from dire circumstances ... that's always a good thing."

"There's a cost that goes with it. But the cost in lives is always worth doing. So, the fact that the planners took it to heart, all the people listened to what the planners gave them for information and evacuated proves that, done right, this is what right looks like," Best said.