20 years after Hurricane Katrina, LA County firefighters recall their search and rescue efforts

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, Los Angeles County firefighters who participated in search-and-rescue efforts recalled their experiences in the devastated region.

The storm surge broke the city's levees, causing a catastrophic flood unlike anything in New Orleans' history. Nearly 1,400 people were killed.

New Orleans may be nearly 2,000 miles away from Los Angeles, but Hurricane Katrina had an impact on dozens of Los Angeles County firefighters.

In the aftermath of Katrina, L.A. County Fire mobilized its Urban Search and Rescue team -- at the time called California Task Force 2.

About 70 members of California Task Force 2 went door-to-door -- either by boat, by foot or by chopper -- to find people trapped by the water.

Some flew directly to New Orleans, but the bulk drove a massive convoy of fire engines and trucks pulling boats and other vital gear.

"Being there is just a whole different thing. It's just, actually seeing it, and you're like, 'Wow,'" said Capt. Kevin Frye. "It's pretty amazing the amount of damage that the storm caused."

"As we were driving in, you could just see water for miles. You just see powerlines, then you see the gables of the roofs of some houses," said. Batt. Chief Abe Serrano. "If you could imagine, like, El Monte all the way to downtown L.A ., like, underwater. That's why I kind of describe it, because it just seemed like a whole city just underwater."

"It was very touching just to see the amount of devastation and the loss of life in that area. Many of the areas, to this day, haven't recovered," said Deputy Chief Robbery Harris. There's homes that are still not rebuilt, and it just, for me, yeah, it hurts."

The L.A. County firefighters worked in New Orleans for about two weeks, working side-by-side with L.A. city firefighters and teams from across the country.

They said one of the most important takeaways they have is that, when evacuation orders are issued, people need to evacuate.

They say most of the lives lost in Katrina could have been prevented.