Watch Storm Stories on The Weather Channel Sundays at 8/7c. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, thousands of humans lost their lives or were displaced. But there were tens of thousands of forgotten victims of the storm: the animals who were left behind. As relief organizations moved in, the first one on the ground for pets was The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. They set up camp in Mississippi and didn’t leave for 9 months.