BUFFALO, N.Y. — Hurricane Ida left a devastating mark on Louisiana over the weekend.
More than a million people are without power and many homes are completely flooded.
"It's horrible to go through that," said Curtis Conerly.
Unfortunately, the amount of damage means recovery efforts are far from over.
"This is going to take five, seven, I think it's going to take as much as ten years like Hurricane Katrina," said Steve Tybor, Founder and President of Eight Days of Hope.
Western New York non-profit Eight Days of Hope is trying to assist Louisiana through that process.
Right now, ten Buffalonians are on their way to New Orleans, but it doesn't stop there.
"We're expecting somewhere between 30 and 50 people in the next couple weeks," Tybor said.
Tybor says volunteers will be down south for at least two months.
He expects even more Western New Yorkers to help out because of it.
Conerly and his wife Belinda -- Buffalonians originally from Louisiana -- are some of those volunteers driving down with supplies right now.
"I lived through Katrina," Conerly said. "I knew it was going to be bad. I've been monitoring the news and they had nothing good to say so I knew immediately that I had to pack and hit the road."
The Conerly's are going to assist their family, friends, and other locals who need help removing fallen trees as well as drying out and repairing their homes.
The Conerly's just hope more Western New Yorkers will help their hometown, which is a lot like buffalo in some ways, get through Hurricane Ida's destruction.
That's whether they decide to head down to New Orleans too or make a donation, which you can do by clicking here.
"When a storm comes through, everybody just bans together and it's neighbors helping neighbors," Conerly said. "We're going to need plenty of help."