LAFAYETTE PARISH — Twenty years ago, a concert and sports venue in the heart of Acadiana transformed into something far greater — a lifeline.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, devastating New Orleans after levees and floodwalls failed, submerging entire neighborhoods. While Lafayette wasn’t in the storm’s path, its response would define the region's resilience and the Cajundome would become a national symbol of compassion.
Within days of the storm, the Cajundome opened its doors to more than 7,000 evacuees. Families with nowhere else to go arrived by bus, carrying little more than hope.
“We began to see the magnitude… the buses just kept coming,” said Greg Davis, then-director of the Cajundome. “You had a lot of senior citizens, a lot of children, families, and they had nothing. Many had been rescued from rooftops or trapped on the interstate surrounded by water.”
Inside the arena, cots lined the floor. Hot meals were served. Medical care was provided. And for months, the Cajundome became home.
Doctors, nurses, churches, schools, and volunteers from across Acadiana stepped in, forming what some called a “community of compassion.” With no official playbook, Davis said they improvised — and the people of Lafayette showed up. “We didn’t have a manual,” Davis said. “Everything was thinking on our feet. But we got a lot of help from the community.”
Former Lafayette Consolidated Government Chief Administrative Officer Dee Stanley remembers the scale of the effort and its impact. “It was a life-altering experience for New Orleans and for Lafayette,” Stanley said. “Our traffic director put out counters and said Lafayette grew 12 years in population in 12 days.” Evacuees were even given their own ZIP code, allowing them to receive mail and stay in contact with loved ones. A full-service pharmacy — the largest in Louisiana at the time, Stanley said — operated inside the Cajundome to ensure evacuees had the medications and care they needed.
But the work never stopped. Davis recalled a 2 a.m. phone call from a state tropper, asking to place 17 more buses of evacuees. “We were at capacity. We had violated every fire code in the book,” Davis said. “But we told the state trooper to bring them. We’d set up shop in the parking lot.”He called the executive chef, who rallied his staff. When the buses pulled in before dawn, evacuees were welcomed with a hot breakfast.
Then came Hurricane Rita. Less than a month later, Katrina evacuees had to be moved north, only to return after the storm passed.
Still, through it all, Lafayette held strong.
“We made this home for them,” Stanley said. “We tried to make it feel like home so they could focus on healing, and not worry about where their next meal would come from. That was significant.” Today, the Cajundome is remembered not just for what it hosted — but for what it stood for.
“We should never let this be erased from our memory,” Davis said. “It was one of the biggest natural disasters in America, and the Cajundome led the way.” The arena’s efforts eventually helped form the operations manual for mega shelters nationwide — setting the standard for future disaster response.
Two decades later, the stories of survival, service, and strength live on, a testament to what a community can do when disaster strikes.
If you would like to learn more about the impact of the Cajundome's sheltering efforts, a documentary titled "Cajundome City" is being aired on PBS stations around the country.
