The last of the 235 Hurricane Katrina evacuees flown to Massachusetts was relocated Monday, as Gov. Mitt Romney officially closed the Camp Edwards shelter on Cape Cod.

The shelter village's unofficial "mayor" credited the state with passing a test of its soul.

"We were there every single day, and we watched people who went through a tremendous, tremendous trauma rise up in unprecedented ways to rebuild and to re-live their lives," said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, a Cambridge minister whom Romney appointed as the liaison to state officials.

"We have nothing to thank but the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for their overwhelming response," an emotional Brown added at a Statehouse news conference. "It was a test, in a way, for our state, for the soul of our state, ... and I'd like to say that we've done very well."

Of those relocated to Massachusetts, 135 have since moved to other states, often with family or friends. The other 100 will remain in the state. Among them was 23-year-old Constance Essex, a former deputy sheriff in New Orleans now undergoing training from the Barnstable County Sheriff's Training Academy.

Echoing the sentiments of many of those interviewed at the base, she said in a statement, "Being the last person to leave Camp Edwards has given me the time to reflect and be thankful for the opportunities and services that have been given to me."

Romney drew chuckles when he revealed that the bulk of the evacuees remaining behind have relocated to Taunton, which was under a flood watch last week after recent rains imperiled a wooden dam upstream from the city. A replacement dam was built last weekend.

"They've gone from one flood to another," the governor quipped.

The Aug. 29 hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast, triggering the unprecedented evacuation of New Orleans. Massachusetts mobilized in the aftermath and staffed a receiving center at Otis Air National Guard Base in Bourne. The Legislature also rushed through an emergency $25 million appropriation and then, after a false start, received 235 evacuees by way of airlift. Another 860 have come to Massachusetts on their own.

To date, the state has spent about $4 million providing services, while the state's business and volunteer community have rallied to provide everything from food and clothing to trips to Red Sox games.

Romney said he expected the final bill to grow, but that the state would be reimbursed for most of the cost by the federal government. He also resisted suggestions by a group of rabbis that the state redirect the $25 million to other programs from the homeless.

"Where the remainder of that money will go will presumably be back to the general fund to be appropriated to the needs of the commonwealth, such as capital needs and education needs, from time to time," Romney said. "I don't imagine any sense that this is cash to be spent willy-nilly."

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