WATERLOO - Bare walls and silence greet Jadarious and Britney Youngblood when they return home from school these days.

Three months ago they were about to start a new school year in their hometown, the only one they'd ever known - McComb, Miss.

Hurricane Katrina took their home and forced them to move north. They are one of an estimated 50 to 70 families struggling to make new lives in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

Three weeks ago they moved into a house in the City View area of Waterloo, finally having a place to call home after living for a month in an Evansdale motel.

In a living room with shades drawn and no artificial light, 7-year-old Jadarious is busy filling lined notebook paper with drawings. He sketches men with clubs, monsters with swords and other flights of fantasy.

His 23-month-old sister, Javangeline, awakens from a nap, sits atop her mother's lap and looks down at her brother, and says "hey JD," with a shy smile.

Britney, 14, walks across the room and reaches atop the entertainment center, which sits empty, except for her mother's purse and cell phone on the top shelf.

She grabs the phone and returns to the sofa, where she starts a game of Tetris.

Things can be rather dreary at the Youngblood household. The furnishings are Spartan. They have the basics - a kitchen table and chairs, cookware, a sofa and love seat and mattresses that lie directly on the floor. The only luxuries are four framed photographs, one of each child and one of Alitha Youngblood's mother.

At the hotel the kids loved to watch television - Britney tuning in to videos on BET, Jadarious soaking up cartoons. But now, in a place of their own, they have no television. Many evenings the kids will go to sleep at 6 p.m., simply out of boredom.

The Youngbloods' home in McComb was about an hour from the Gulf Coast. Yet Katrina didn't spare them. The roof of their mobile home leaked badly, and nearly everything in their home got wet.

Jadarious suffers from severe asthma, and had been hospitalized just two weeks prior to the hurricane. In the aftermath of the storm, mold and mildew threatened to worsen his situation.

They went a week without electricity. Food in their refrigerator rotted, as did food at everyone else's homes. Stores throughout their area were short on food. Gas shortages were widespread. People would spend hours waiting for fuel.

"You just get tired of every street you turn down there's downed wires and trees," Alitha Youngblood said.

Youngblood's brother had moved to Iowa months before, so she decided to come north as well. They packed up a Styrofoam cooler full of food, waited in line for gas, then drove north until they reached Waterloo.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency grant allowed them to eat and get a security deposit for the rental house. That money ran dry, and the Youngbloods are living primarily on food stamps and child support.

Alitha Youngblood is a certified nursing assistant. She hopes to get such a job here, but hasn't yet gotten her license transferred to Iowa.

For now, the Youngbloods are getting by, but they can't say they've moved on.

Relief and crisis agencies estimate 180 to 200 people have relocated to Black Hawk County in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That's part of an estimated 500 in Northeast Iowa and 2,300 statewide.

Many came because they have family here. Some landed here because of word of mouth. Others arrived purely by chance. One couple's car broke down on the way to Washington, and now they are stuck here.

Some arrived just after the hurricane. Others came in late September through October. Still more arrive even today.

Many of those relocated here can barely rub two nickels together. Many have health problems.

But some have made a good transition and are excited about a new life in Iowa, even though the cold snap this week left them practically paralyzed, afraid to venture outdoors.

Clair Hein works for Agri-Wellness, a company the Iowa Department of Human Services has hired to do crisis counseling. Agri-Wellness gets out to talk to evacuees, listens to their stories and tries to connect them with resources.

"Not all, but a lot of them are living on the edge of panic. Some of it is transitory and will go away in time, but some will not," said Hein, a retired longtime local Iowa State University Extension official who is no stranger to disaster recovery. He has worked with individuals in underdeveloped or war- and disaster-devastated areas ranging from Uganda to Kosovo on small business development

He said studies show about 80 to 85 percent of evacuees will make strong adjustments. The others may deal with long-term problems.

Evacuees have relied on myriad agencies, churches and private parties for assistance. Sometimes assistance comes tangled in red tape, and information is conflicting, confusing or incorrect. At other times, agencies or individuals have answered the prayers of the newly settled.

Martha Frazier of Waterloo is one such prayer-answering individual.

She has taken on an unofficial role as host and advocate for evacuees. She helped bring family to Waterloo shortly after the hurricane. In helping them settle in, she saw the difficulty of getting what people need to survive. As her relatives adjusted, she started helping more evacuee families. Word of mouth meant new evacuees called her when they arrived, seeking help.

She has been so busy coordinating assistance she felt the need to make business cards, simple black and white cards that list her name and contact information and "In God I Put My Trust."

Frazier has worked with more than 20 families, including the Youngbloods. Some have established new lives. Others are still struggling.

"There are families out there with nothing," Frazier said.

Her collection of phone numbers and e-mail addresses is growing by the day. She puts evacuees in touch with people who can help, ranging from the American Red Cross and FEMA to local churches, mental health professionals and job placement companies.

"Sometimes I get fiery with these agencies," Frazier said. "I tell them, 'you don't hear and see what I do. You don't know what's going on when you're working behind a desk.'"

Frazier has volunteered since the hurricane, but last week went through training classes to join Agri-Wellness in its crisis counseling efforts.

Help has come from many places. Sedona Staffing has made finding jobs for hurricane victims a priority. It participated in the one-stop shop for victim services at the Pinecrest office building in Waterloo. That shop has since closed.

Sedona Manager Bryan Burton has placed two evacuees into jobs.

"We have had a few evacuees that have come in. We wish we had more, but they just haven't come in," he said.

The Heartland Inn near Crossroads Center is one of several motels housing evacuees. It had six families stay, most of whom have found permanent housing and plan to stay in the Waterloo area.

"We have been very thankful to be able to do this," said Heartland manager Linda Gowdy. "We enjoyed having them here and getting to know them."

Heartland teamed with area churches to assist the evacuees in finding clothes, housing and even jobs.

FEMA has said it will no longer pay for hotel rooms for evacuees after Dec. 1. That has struck fear into the hearts of many who have yet to find more permanent homes.

Local authorities have cut through much of the red tape to help evacuees find shelter. Ethel Washington of the Waterloo Housing Authority said the federal department of Housing and Urban Development has allowed the agency to move Katrina evacuees to the top of its lists for available housing. In addition, it has allowed more cooperation between housing agencies in neighboring towns, or even between those in hurricane-ravaged towns in the South and the cities where victims have relocated.

The Youngbloods took advantage of just such a program and were able to get their new home on Halloween.

While the Youngbloods are still getting their feet under them, other families have started to really enjoy their new lives.

Tonia Ramsey came to Waterloo from Gulfport, Miss., about a week after the hurricane. Ramsey, her husband and three children plan to stay permanently in Waterloo. Her ex-husband and former mother-in-law, Frazier, offered to bring them up from Mississippi and help them get on their feet.

Since then, her 18-year-old son has established himself in pursuing a diploma through General Education Development. Her 14-year-old daughter, Keondra, started school at Waterloo East High and has since transferred to Columbus High. And her 8-year-old daughter is enrolled at Cunningham Elementary School.

They live in a two-story house rent-free after a Waterloo family heard her story and offered the house.

Ramsey is getting a job and also pursuing her own GED.

The children have adjusted well to school and were thrilled with the onset of winter weather this week.

"When it snowed the kids were screaming and hollering and running and jumping," Ramsey said, noting that 8-year-old, Whitney, particularly liked the snow. "She was just having a ball."

The Ramseys have seen an outpouring of support from the community, being the recipients of donated clothes, home furnishings and personal items.

"We are so grateful. I've never seen so much love that I've seen here in Waterloo," Ramsey said.

But surviving Katrina and uprooting from the South to chilly Iowa isn't all roses, even for families as fortunate as the Ramseys. Wesley Ramsey, Tonia's husband, recently had back surgery, which had been scheduled for just after the hurricane in Mississippi, but was scratched after the storm. He's still due to have a second surgery. He also has suffered from depression.

The Ramseys have moved on, but they still have family in Mississippi, and they know the holiday season will be difficult.

Frazier and Ramsey, among others, are working to establish regular activities to bring relocated flood victims together in the Waterloo area. They think skating parties, barbecues or other activities would be good to help the families bond, and would like to see monthly events.

"It's a bonding thing," Ramsey said of her contact with fellow evacuees. "We can tell everyone here what we've been through. But it's different. These people really understand."

Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1402 or jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.