Fifteen years after Hurricane Katrina, family still calls Longmont home; dog among those rescued and relocated

Aug. 30--When Tim Ellis thinks about what he misses about Louisiana, before his family's home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, he can summarize it in one word: "Everything."

Ellis and his wife, Kristin Ellis, and their three children found refuge from the hurricane in Longmont. Since then, the city has become more than a safe haven -- it's become home.

Tim Ellis, fourth from left, with his children, Christian, Kindal, Ben and Kiley, in downtown Longmont on August 29, 2020. Tim Ellis and his family came to Longmont 15 years ago, after being forced to leave their New Orleans home, due to Hurricane Katrina. The family quickly realized Longmont felt like home. (Cliff Grassmick/ Staff Photographer)

This month marks the 15th anniversary of the destructive Category 3 storm, which slammed the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, killing 1,833 people, according to national news reports. This year's anniversary falls not far from the devastation of Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm, which struck the Louisiana coastline on Thursday, marking it one of the strongest hurricanes to strike the U.S.

The day before Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast, Tim Ellis stayed behind in his family's home in Kenner, a New Orleans suburb, boarding up the house and packing the car. His wife and three children left earlier to take refuge in Jasper, Texas, about 260 miles away.

As he prepared to pull away from their home, he sat in the driveway, taking one last look. When he next saw his home, it would be infested with black mold. The furniture would be so bloated from floodwaters it would dwarf the size of the living room. In the bathroom, "a nasty soup" of water pooled in the bathtub, giving a hint to the house's state days before. And the house they had spent about three years renovating would not seem salvageable.

Finding refuge in Longmont

Kristin Ellis had family who lived in Longmont and ran the Loaf & Ladle, a restaurant that used to be on Francis Street, but has since closed.

Ellis can recall vividly the day his family arrived in Longmont. It was the first time he had ever seen the Rocky Mountains, rising out of the west as the family drove near Denver.

The Ellises were among a caravan of roughly 19 family members also seeking refuge. As they rolled into the city, droves of news reporters were waiting to share the family's harrowing journey and capture the heartwarming reunion. Ellis, who worked as a photographer and for an insurance company, held back snapping pictures of the moment with his own camera. According to prior reports, the Ellis family was among 1,600 who fled to Colorado following Hurricane Katrina.

In the days, weeks and months after the storm, Ellis said his family was moved by the generosity of Longmont people, who stepped up to make them feel comfortable during a challenging time. People donated clothes and necessities to the family. One man gave Ellis the belt he was wearing, when Ellis said he needed one. A family drove from Denver to ply them with a steaming pot of gumbo, as a nod toward Louisiana culture.

"We had people from Longmont knocking on our door three to four times a day to bring us stuff," Ellis said. "That's when I realized just how generous and open-hearted the people of Longmont and Colorado in general were. It helped us through a really tough time when we didn't know we needed help. I can never repay the people of Longmont for that generosity."

Through December that year, Ellis made five or six trips back to the Louisiana house to prepare it for the insurance company and try to salvage family belongings. He was able to save some of his photography negatives, but his wife's wedding dress was water- damaged, and his children's Christmas ornaments, collected since their births, had been ruined. It was tough to see, Ellis said, and eventually he made the decision that his family needed him in Colorado. He found an investor and sold the house.

While the family hadn't initially planned to stay in Longmont, it was less than a year later when Ellis said his family felt like the Front Range was home.

Home on the Front Range

The Ellises now have four children.

The couple's oldest daughter, Kindal, who was 8 when they fled the storm, returned to Louisiana after earning a scholarship to attend college at Tulane University. She graduated in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in cellular molecular biology. Kindal, now 23, returned to Longmont and works for AveXis, a gene therapy company.

Ben, 20, is studying to become a police officer at Front Range Community College.

Kiley, 15, is a junior at Longmont High School.

Christian, the family's Colorado-born child, is 12 and a student at Altona Middle School.

Ellis continues to operate his photography business, French Quarter Photography, and is president of the Longmont Jazz Association, which typically puts on a jazz festival with a New Orleans-style "second line" parading down the street.

Dog finds home in Longmont

Ellis and his family aren't the only ones who found a home in Longmont after the devastating storm. A 19-year-old black Shiba Inu named Kiera was rescued during the hurricane and relocated to Longmont. The storm is approximated to have left 600,000 animals dead or without homes, according to national news reports.

Ellie Libby adopted Kiera after she was brought to Longmont from an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (Cliff Grassmick/ Staff Photographer)

A couple of weeks after the hurricane, a rescue agency came to Longmont with 150 stray cats and dogs saved from the storm. Ellie Libby and her grandson, Gavin, then 6, were among those browsing the animals on a September day.

"He said, 'Oh, Nana, I want a dog!'" Libby said. "We decided we would get a dog, but I was like, 'Are you sure you want that one? She's so scraggly-looking.'"

Kiera was scrawny and disheveled, with a chunk missing from one ear. But Gavin was smitten.

They adopted Kiera, who became Libby's dog.

A travel companion and loyal lap dog, Kiera, who has a "K" name after the storm that stranded her, is now 19. She doesn't move like she used to and enjoys taking long naps and short walks outside. The only vestige of her former Louisiana life is a deep-seated fear of gutters. Libby suspects Kiera may have been swept into a gutter during the storm.

As the 15th anniversary of the storm approaches, Libby thinks of all the people and pets alike who lost their homes. She said she's grateful for the 2006 signing of the PETS Act, which authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rescue pets, and care and provide shelter for them in event of a disaster.

"I just can't imagine someone telling me, 'You have to leave (Kiera) behind,'" Libby said.

Every August, as the anniversary of the hurricane looms, Ellis reflects on what his family has been through since the storm.

"We are so blessed to be here," Ellis said. "We're not a sad story at all. We're survivors, and we have made the best of what we were given."

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