Wednesday, 13 News introduced you to Brandi Hoffman and her family.

She and her husband, Dan, are opening their home to at least five families-- displaced from their homes in New Orleans.

Thursday, I talked with Dan about the horrible situation these friends and relatives are in, and where they go from here.

"They had gunshots going off in the hospital as they're running through those pitch black hallways to get to the roof to be helicoptered out," says Dan of his relatives who took refuge in a New Orleans hospital, "to be woken up at 2:30 in the morning saying, 'grab your kids, you have to get out of there,' it's like a war zone."

Thankful he's heard from several friends and family members, Dan says, as he gets word from those who escaped Katrina's path, he learns the situation there is unbelievable.

"It's 10 times worse than what we can imagine," Dan says, "people now have resorted to taking from each other, just to try and stay alive-- people are dying in the street. It's horrendous."

Hoffman lived in New Orleans for three years, his wife Brandi was born and raised there.

He says, seeing the horrific state the city is now in, is not an accurate representation of New Orleans' people.

"They're resilient," says Dan, "it's a beautiful city, to see what we see, it's just a poor reflection of what the city's really like."

And as the hurricane victims start to rebuild, the Hoffmans are providing a place for them to stay, for these people who have lost everything.

"They want jobs, they want to start rebuilding their life," Hoffman says of the relatives and friends on their way to Topeka, "they don't want a free handout. They just want to be able to move forward and become part of a community. They know that they may never get back to the New Orleans they knew."

Dan and his wife are expecting at least twelve people in the next few days, possibly more as they continue to hear from more people, left with nothing after the hurricane.