20 years after Hurricane Katrina, many evacuees still call Georgia home

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -  When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, more than 100,000 evacuees ended up in Georgia. Over 14,000 ended up in Atlanta.

Through the years, that number has dropped, but some built a new life in Atlanta and stayed.

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Tim Otis plays the trumpet with the Second Line band in Atlanta. In August 2005, he was stationed in New Orleans as part of the Marine Corps Band.

“My job was to take that culture to other places and to show people,” said Otis.

He was on tour when the storm hit. Thankfully, Otis’ family evacuated in time, but he didn’t see what was left of his house again for another month.

“We just checked what happened so we could report back to insurance,” said Otis.

They moved, eventually ending up in Atlanta. And they’re not alone.

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Elizabeth Fussell, Professor of Population Studies and Environment and Society at Tulane University in New Orleans, found that in 2006, Atlanta was the second most populated location for evacuees, with 14,370 living in the city.

That dropped significantly to 6,009 evacuees by 2019, but the spirit of New Orleans in Atlanta, which opened, remains strong, supporting those who stayed.

Just ask the Just Loaf’n food truck and restaurant, which opened right after Katrina in southeast Atlanta.

“We started this because we wanted to bring something to the Katrina victims to make them feel a little bit like home,” manager Parris Lee said.

Lee said they keep it authentic, from the bread they use for po-boys to their snowballs.

They even hired evacuees as cooks, and they look out for other evacuees.

“We got a couple of homeless guys that have been around. One guy, he’s a Katrina victim also, so we kind of take care of him because he’s basically our mascot,” said Lee.

Knowing what it means to miss New Orleans and honoring its culture 500 miles away and 20 years later.