GEMA Reflects on Katrina Disaster

As many as 150,000 people who escaped Katrina ended up in Georgia and it's believed that half of them still remain here.

The state agencies that helped those people in their time of need leaed several lessons from that disaster.

Lines outside Georgia's shelters went on for days -- for clothes, food, and toiletries. Volunteers helping storm evacuees filled out paperwork for govement assistance.

"Certainly it was a troubling time," said Ken Davis of GEMA.

Five years later - officials with GEMA - the state agency that coordinates emergency response reflect.

Thousands descended on Georgia in the days after Hurricane Katrina hit. Georgia emergency management agency acted as a "clearinghouse" for the disaster response.

We did everything from providing assistance to communities where shelters were set up - all state agencies that had an active role were called upon and stepped up, we even sent teams to the impacted area, said Davis.

What those volunteers saw has helped enhance catastrophic planning. Emergency responders now go through more training - putting their skills into practice in mock disasters like one held at Tuer Field.

GEMA officials say 125-150,000 Gulf Coast residents evacuated to Georgia after Katrina. Today, they estimate that half remain.

One of those evacuees was Jayda Cabbell.

"When I got here, there were no more hotels," said Jayda Cabbell, a Katrina evacuee.

On the fifth anniversary of one of the worst days of her life - the 34-year old is celebrating the new life she's built here in Atlanta. She's now the owner of a small business.

Inside Cabbell's new business are five roses -- each dedicated to those who didn't survive the devastating storm.

"Losing everything to five years later, gained so much - I'm in so much awe," said Cabbell.