NEW ORLEANS — They came by the hundreds, then by the thousands and by the millions.
State officials and relief organizations estimate more than 2 million people — from celebrities to everyday people — poured into Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
They rebuilt houses, fed families, provided medical care, hauled debris, restored parks and created playgrounds.
And they helped give a region smashed by the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane a fighting chance to rebound.
"It is just astounding to me," said Aleis Tusa, communication director for New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, which estimates more than 120,000 volunteers have worked in its home construction efforts since Katrina. About 200 a day are still at work in neighborhoods still in need of rebuilding, she said. "And these are people that come on their own nickel, pay for transportation and a place to stay."
Habitat for Humanity has built 315 houses in New Orleans alone since the storm. Many others have been built along the Gulf Coast, with 15 currently under construction. Among its projects were houses in the Musicians' Village, designed to give performers a post-storm refuge. The area now has 77 houses.
Sandra Sheffield, a retired probation officer from San Diego, was back in New Orleans for a second volunteer effort with Habitat for Humanity earlier this week.
"I did five days two years ago and just loved the city and the people," said Sheffield, 60. "So I treated my granddaughter and her friend to a trip to New Orleans if they would volunteer a day. I'm just sorry it's not more."
The Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service said more than 954,000 volunteers have been a part of rebuilding Mississippi, contributing almost 10 million hours since Katrina.
The hurricane crashed ashore the morning of Aug. 29 at Buras, La., then cartwheeled to the north making landfall again near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. Its storm surge broke levees, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans, and swept far inland on the Mississippi coast.
"We had tons of federal assistance, but people's personal lives could not have been accommodated without the volunteers," said Les Fillingame, mayor of Bay St. Louis, Miss. "They were just invaluable. That's something you can never thank them enough for. It's overwhelming that people from all over the country gave up their time and leisure time and gave their blood and sweat."
Bay St. Louis bore the brunt of the storm in Mississippi.
In Louisiana, at least 1.15 million volunteers showed up to work, according to Janet Pace with the Louisiana Service Commission. They came from every state and even Canada and Europe.
"And they keep coming, that's the amazing part," said Kevin Fitzpatrick, director of Catholic Charities Operation Helping Hand. "It's five years later and they keep coming."
More than 25,000 volunteers worked with Catholic Charities on Katrina-damaged homes in Louisiana.
As part of the five-year anniversary events, Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit organization that focuses on affordable housing and revitalizing neighborhoods, reported more than 1,000 volunteers traveled to New Orleans to help restore 50 homes in the Gentilly neighborhood in a weeklong event called Fifty for Five.
Another group, the St. Bernard Project, planned to complete construction of five homes in 50 hours to commemorate Katrina's fifth anniversary.
Among celebrities who adopted New Orleans after the storm was actor Brad Pitt, whose Make It Right Foundation has built 30 houses in the Lower 9th Ward, which was wiped out when a levee broke.
Actress Sandra Bullock has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild Warren Easton High School. On Sunday, she'll help dedicate a health clinic at the school.