Ten years later: Hurricane Katrina victims making Indiana home

More than 1,800 people lost their lives ten years ago as levee failures flooded 80% of New Orleans alone.

On this tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, much of the Gulf Coast is back to normal after the worst natural disaster in America's history.

More than 1,800 people lost their lives as levee failures flooded 80% of New Orleans alone.

The storm caused an estimated $135 billion in damage. Support poured out across the country including here in Indiana.

More than 1 million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the storm, taking shelter across the country including Indiana. Some chose to never leave.

“Everything is gone, our house, our clothes, all our furniture,” said Diane Dunbar while in Indianapolis back in 2005.

In an instant, thousands of people lost it all, and have spent years trying to get just a glimmer of it back.

“Living from house to house, riding from city to city, state to state, living out of your car, sleeping on floors, we're living day by day,” said a frustrated Gulf Coast resident while passing through Indiana in 2005.

Groups of Hoosiers volunteered to travel south and help with cleanup and rebuilding.

“They were like crying almost on the phone saying we've got so many people here, we need help,” a volunteer from central Indiana recalled after returning from the battered area weeks after the hurricane.

Police officers from across the state, including Indianapolis, went down and took month-long shifts along the Gulf Coast.

“Certainly a lot of their police officers are probably trying to get their personal affairs in order,” a then-IPD officer said.

Indiana also acted as a host state. Groups of people arrived, looking for a safe and comfortable place to stay amid the devastation.

“Now that they are here, they will not be forgotten,” then-mayor Bart Peterson said in 2005.

“In this shelter, we have felt blessed to be here because of the love and the care that we got from these people,” a New Orleans resident said while staying at a shelter in 2005.

A Hoosier touch helped clean-up after mother nature's horrible punch.

“Bless everybody in Indiana that's helping because we really need it,” a Gulf Coast resident said days after the storm.

Across the state, people raised money or supplies for the thousands of lives turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina.

Others in Indiana headed down to the front lines and WTHR was there.

“Once you get down there, everything is just insane,” a volunteer from central Indiana said upon his return.

Members of the Calvary Temple Church drove a bus down, to bring evacuees to safety in Indiana, some 800 miles away.

Others were flown into Indianapolis, including a plane full of people desperately needing medical treatment.

“We have people ranging from spider bites all the way up to dialysis patients who haven't dialyzed in nine days,” a central Indiana doctor said at the Indianapolis International Airport in 2005.

Hoosier help didn't stop there.

“So many people have donated things to our apartment,” a college student from New Orleans said.

Indiana University in Bloomington admitted nearly 80 students from the battered hurricane region, so that their lives could go on as close to normal as possible.

While many Hoosiers went down to help with the clean-up and rebuilding, dozens of Gulf Coast refugees fled to Indiana for safety and never left.

“We grew in love with it. It was safe and when we moved to Indiana they embraced us and there was so much help and so much hospitality. The schools are better. The jobs are better and so we knew that, despite the snow, this was best for us,” said Chasity Johnson.

The Johnson family took a bus to Indiana and stayed for the opportunities.

“I like Indiana a lot because of new friends, new stuff for me and I can play football,” said Cody Johnson Jr.

He was just a few weeks old when the family moved.

The Hicks family also relocated to Indiana after Katrina. They headed to Houston before the storm that destroyed their home and later came to Indiana where they have family.

“I remember coming from the home before the hurricane and then we went to Houston and being in a hotel and not really being home,” 17-year-old Kaylyn Hicks said.

She’s a high school senior who looks forward who’s grown to love life in Indiana.

“When I came from New Orleans, we didn't have giant coats so when we got here I was like what is this, it's so cold and it was just something we had to adjust to,” Kaylyn Hicks said.

She was just seven years old when the family moved. Her family reflects each year when the anniversary rolls around.

“This has been a very emotional month for us as we go into the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina thinking about family members and friends that were lost,” Larcina Hicks said.

The one thing they say they miss is the Gulf Coat’s famous spicy Cajun food, but they try to get their fill when they return to visit family.