DENVER -- Five years after Hurricane Katrina, many who fled that day have started a new life in Colorado.

"We listened when he said to leave. A lot of people didn't leave, but we did," said Ruth Murry.

Murry evacuated from New Orleans just hours before the hurricane hit. Her daughter drove them to Texas, and she remembered the news that night wasn't good.

"One of the ladies called and asked what was going on. She said, 'Your house is full of water, and back here it is too.' It was terrible. I left my car. They laughed because I said, 'Oh my God, I only owe $5000 on my brand new car,'" Murry recalled. "My daughter left her stuff on the bed, (with) the water in the house, the bed went straight to the ceiling."

Murry said she lost everything.

"We just took a few things because we didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was. I went to Texas with, let me think, two pairs of pants and the clothes I had on," she said.

Murry said she came to Colorado because there weren't enough resources in Texas. The Volunteers of America provided shelter for her at Montbello Manner, in Aurora.

When it was safe to go back to New Orleans, Murry's daughter did.

"They told me, 'Mama, don't come back. You don't want to see this.' There was mold and mildew. They had to take shots and put on all these boots ... masks and things to get in. She said it was really terrible," Murry said.

Without a place to return to, Murry said she decided to stay in Colorado.

"I've met a lot of people from New Orleans. I belong to a Catholic church and there are a lot of people from New Orleans who belong there. So, I feel pretty much at home here," she said.

Her friend and fellow Katrina evacuee, Alfred Ricard, stayed too.

"They did everything they could for us when we first got up here. It's just one of them things," said Ricard.

Ricard was visiting family in Colorado when Katrina hit New Orleans; however, he said his son was trapped in the flood waters.

"I was worried. My son was missing," he said.

It took Ricard over a week to learn his son had survived after drilling a hole in the ceiling of his home and escaping to the roof as water climbed quickly.

"Somebody came along in a boat two days later and he made his way to the French Quarters," Ricard said.

7NEWS asked Ricard if he had any desire to go back.

"No. There ain't nothing to go back to. I went back there about two years ago, and -- just my bad luck -- while I was down there they had another storm," he said.

Ricard said he's happy to call Colorado home now.

"I have everything I need. It's nice," he said.