By KAT BERGERON
kbergeron@sunherald.com

"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts knows she will be misty-eyed when she flies into the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport airport Friday for a too-full schedule of Hurricane Katrina anniversary events, a live ABC telecast, a cancer fund-raiser and time with her close-knit family.

The tears will be both joyful and cathartic when she revisits her hometown Mississippi Gulf Coast. Since Katrina, the popular GMA co-anchor has championed the Coast's recovery from the nation's worst natural disaster, and since announcing July 31 she has breast cancer, she has added early cancer detection to her personal crusades.

"It's a melancholy time for me," Roberts told the Sun Herald on Thursday in her first newspaper interview since cancer surgery on Aug. 3. "Two years ago I can remember crying on Pass Road when I found my family. I remember that morning after the storm when it ripped my heart out. But I'm rejuvenated. I can go back to that same spot on Pass Road and see progress.

"But there is frustration. I want to see it all back, maybe because I have an older parent. Is the Coast where I thought it would be in two years? In some ways it is. When you see all the debris cleared and some of the vegetation growing back, the appearance is better, but it's the frustration of businesses not getting the support they need to come back. You have to have a reason for people to come back, and primarily that is through careers and employment.

"I know businesses and homeowners are still struggling. I thought we'd see a few more people back in their homes and more businesses running again. I scratch my head. Two years later we're putting money in temporary houses? It seems for the most part the funds were there but it's how they were allocated."

Roberts grew up in Pass Christian, a high school basketball star before she launched her national TV career on ESPN.

"It's one of those tricky lines," said Roberts. "I'm on the outside now. I live in New York City. People want me to say everything is perfect and back to normal on the Coast, and when I don't say that, there is this look of why? It's hard to keep them interested.

"But it's not over yet. We still need the resources to get up and running. With pieces (for 'Good Morning America') you want to be positive so that people feel their time and money is going somewhere, but again you have to be real, to say, 'Yes, that is the case. Let me tell the full story.' I want to keep it real. That is the only way people can truly understand."

Such words are hints about the GMA broadcast on Aug. 29, the storm's second anniversary. In the Friday morning interview she also talked about keynoting at the Pink Heart Funds luncheon on the anniversary day.

Before Roberts knew she had cancer herself, she had agreed to speak at the local fund raiser for the post-Katrina charity that helps under-insured cancer patients with wigs and prosthesis and other funds.

Roberts is aware the national media is showing keen interest in her upcoming first public speech since her surgery.

"I'm going to speak from the heart. I'm not going to have a prepared speech," Roberts said. "My message throughout this has been early detection. I will tell how I found a lump and made an appointment and then how I didn't tell the doctor about the lump until the end of the physical exam. Here I was having the initiative for doctor's appointment and then I almost chicken out. The unknown is so frightening.

"I will speak of that and about this wonderful, wonderful community of survivors who are sharing and giving. I want to say, 'Thank you, you were there for me when I was down for the count. Here I am supposed to be good with words and I cannot express the way the Coast rallied around me at the time of my surgery. They said I had prayed for them (and tried to help after the storm and now it's payback time.

"I tangibly felt in my body the prayers that were being said for me. I felt the difference in my body. It is hard to explain... I know that's what got me through my surgery. When I marched into that hospital it wasn't just me. I wasn't just alone. It was the team."

Roberts, who is recognized for her personal strength, faith and ability to think on her feet, often talks about "the team," a wide circle of family, friends and even those who do not personally know her but who help her pull through trying times. She will likely address that at the Pink Heart Funds luncheon at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

"I'll say something but I don't know exactly what," Roberts said. "I may get caught up in the moment and spill the beans."