FARGO - Of all the people who have walked into the Job Service North Dakota office looking for work, nobody came so far with so little as Larry McKenzie.

McKenzie landed here with his wife and daughter a year ago after evacuating from the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. They had "only the clothes on their backs," said Kriss Burns, consultant for the job service.

Besides landing McKenzie a job as a diesel mechanic, Burns became somewhat of a personal adviser, as well. She used her contacts to help arrange free lodging and rental car when he returned home to get a vehicle.

Burns gave up her own frequent flyer miles for the trip.

"I kind of became family," Burns said. "After we figured out his route there, he had tears in his eyes. It was probably the coolest thing I did in my life."

Fewer than 100 people evacuated to North Dakota, most of whom had relatives or other connections to the area, state emergency management officials said. About 20 families in the southern Red River Valley received assistance from the area Red Cross, spokesman Dave Pattengale said.

"It was such an unknown, we didn't know what to expect," said Pattengale, director of emergency services for the Mid-Dakota Red Cross Chapter. "What I recall the most is how quickly the community came together to open their arms to the evacuees."

State officials believe that most of the evacuees have returned home. The McKenzies moved to Mississippi, Burns said, because of a job transfer for Larry's wife, Yolanda.

"It was sad to see them go. They are wonderful people," Burns said.

The Red Cross and other organizations in the area were helped by their experiences in the 1997 flood that wiped out Grand Forks, Pattengale said.

"It was probably one of our busiest times outside of the '97 flood," he said. "It was physically draining, even though we weren't in the affected area. It was 12 to 14 hour days, seven days a week."

If that wasn't trying enough, the chapter's office was broken into on the night before the group helped with a radio telethon for Katrina victims. Computers, a TV and other equipment was stolen - but the donated money was safe.

"We were angry … someone stealing from an organization that tries to help other people," Pattengale said. "But the community rallied around us. The computers were donated back to us and we were back in business the next day."