A friend, being 11 years old, had evacuated the area in advance of Hurricane Katrina. She was rather lucky; while her house was damaged it only had a foot of water inside. Though she was away from her house for a month, first staying in Texas for a little while then coming back to Lafayette.

Both in Texas and Lafayette the communities members were welcoming and nice, especially once they found out my friend and her family were evacuees. The locals would give her family gift baskets to help them. She also attended school in Lafayette for a week but absolutely hated it and refused to go back.

Her family was able to come back to New Orleans at the beginning October and they lived in their camper, all five of them and their dog. While they were back not many things were available and they only ate MRE's for a month until Walmart opened again. From everyone emptying all the damaged items from their houses and the debris the water had left the streets were lined with huge piles.
Her family was able to move back into their house in January when the walls and floors were finished but they had no appliances or furniture, except one mattress; remodeling was finished in April.