Waveland , Mississippi ( CNN ) -- Tommy Longo has had a rough year : both hips , a femur and a knee replaced . When he hobbles out of his truck to see how the new City Hall construction is going , he looks with every step like he just needs to sit down . His face is covered with perspiration in the afternoon heat , and he always seems to be headed to the next appointment . You might think the mayor of a town that disappeared would have little to do , and yet Longo seems to never stop . `` We lost our residential structures , lost our commercial structures , lost our governmental structures , '' he says . `` Every city building was gone . Our town was obliterated . We were wiped off the face of the earth . '' For all the attention focused on New Orleans each time the anniversary of Katrina rolls around , it would be easy to forget that the epicenter of the storm was over on the Mississippi Gulf Coast . And no town was hit harder than Waveland . Ninety-five percent of its homes were taken by the storm ; 100 percent of the town 's businesses . With virtually every road either broken up or piled with mountains of debris , it was difficult for recovery teams to find a starting place . And yet , Mayor Longo and a core of dedicated residents began rebuilding almost as soon as the storm passed , and for the past five years they have remained steadily at it . With $ 100 million in federal disaster aid as a launching pad , they 've repaired utilities , roads , schools , community centers and parks , and recovered 65 percent of the businesses they lost . Temporary churches , often erected on the ruins of their original houses of worship , proved crucial as meeting spots and places to organize volunteers . Now some of those congregations are finally moving into new , permanent sanctuaries . Most importantly , the people are coming back . Like the businesses , about two-thirds of the population has returned . The Kearney family , Charles , his wife Germain and their two small children , lost everything . In the immediate wake of the storm , Germain Kearney kneeled in the wreckage of her house , plucking ruined photographs from the wreckage . `` It 's just blowing me away , '' she told CNN back then . `` It really is . But this has happened to other people and they 've come back from it , so we 're going to come back from it too . '' They have done just that -- rebuilding , resettling not far from the empty lot where they used to live . Germain Kearney knows that remaining here means accepting challenges , maybe for many more years . `` I 'm not complaining , but it is harder to do what we have to do . School is not around the block , school is 10 miles away . '' The nearest grocery store is every farther . Charles Kearney says they talked about leaving , `` But where were we going to go ? This is home . '' Back downtown , Longo stops walking long enough to answer a basic question that he 's heard many times . With nothing left of the town , did it ever occur to you to give up , move away ? `` It never crossed my mind that we were finished . That we were done . Never crossed my mind . '' It 's more than just a commitment to a job . He is the father of seven children , all still living here . And they 'll all be on hand this fall , when for the first time since the storm , his town holds a popular festival it used to enjoy every year before the storm . In the high grass at their old lot , one of the Kearney kids calls out . `` I found something ! '' Even now , they discover bits of detritus tossed by the storm . His father takes a look and tells him it 's just part of an old yard trimmer . `` But it is still something , '' the kids say . And this town had saved itself on the simple belief , that you can build something from nothing . They 've done it .
Five years after Hurricane Katrina , Waveland , Louisiana , regains what it lost . 2005 : ` ` We were wiped off the face of the earth '' Town has recovered about 65 percent of its businesses since the storm . About two - thirds of the town 's residents have returned .