 On August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina passed over southern Florida and hit the Gulf of Mexico. Two days later, the hurricane was heading toward New Orleans and the coast. We thought we'd be going for two or three days. I brought my birthday money and my money for my summer job, a few pair of clothes. I bought important papers and a couple of change of outfits and packed some snacks for the kids. Six cars total. 23 of us ranged in ages from three months to 70. We took the van so we could all be together. It's not how it used to be before Katrina, but still home. Missed all my friends in school. By Sunday afternoon, it's going to be off the mouth of the river here with winds of 120. Now, this is pushing water towards our area already, so by Sunday we're going to start to see the tides go up and water beginning to move back towards our direction. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, dumping eight to ten inches of rain on the region in less than a day. When it's time to evacuate, you have to grab everything you ever want to see again. Simple as that, because it may not be here when you get home. At first, we weren't going to leave, but it wasn't even, I don't think it was supposed to be a big hurricane. We wound up getting nine and a half feet of water, shower loss, everything that left in my room. The same day Katrina hit, the levees that held back Lake Pontchartrain breached and 80% of New Orleans was underwater. Well, when Katrina first struck, you know, I just, I thought it wouldn't be as long as a couple of days, but when it turned out to be a little bit longer, this is going to push a lot of plans back in my senior year. And we had only been in school for, I think, a week and a half. And so we just knew that, okay, this is not days we're going to have to make up. This is, we might not even get to go to school again. Tens of thousands were homeless. Some were relocated to other parts of the country. Many who fled the Gulf Coast stayed in hotels or drove to stay with friends or relatives. How would they survive in the weeks or even months before they could return? How would those who stayed get food and water or even gas? How could they get money when they didn't have an address and the banks were underwater or even completely gone? Even though the storm forced the closing of the Federal Reserve's New Orleans office, other branch offices made sure that cash reached the area so that local banks could get money to their customers to buy food, water and gas. In addition, the Federal Reserve's electronic payment system continued to function making sure deposits, like social security, and other electronic payments were made directly into people's checking accounts. During the weeks and months that followed, the Federal Reserve kept the payment system on track. The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators also encouraged banks to work with customers to help meet their financial needs by honoring checks from other banks and deferring mortgage payments. By being prepared, the Federal Reserve worked with banks to help thousands of Gulf Coast residents in the aftermath of the disaster. And while some families weren't completely prepared to deal with the crisis, some had a solid financial footing to help get them through. You're going to meet three real families that survived Katrina and see how they dealt with the financial challenges during and after the storm.