Jasmine Batiste celebrated her ninth birthday in 2005, just a week before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana. The storm left her and her family stranded for three days, fearing for their lives. "The water is at our feet. It's at the bottom of the first step. It's coming in, and I'm just asking my momma, 'Are we going to be OK?'" Batiste recalled the harrowing moments on August 29, 2005, when Katrina struck as a Category 3 hurricane, becoming one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.

Like many others in New Orleans, Batiste's family was trapped in their home due to the floodwaters. The aftermath of the storm is revisited in the ABC News special "Hurricane Katrina: 20 Years After the Storm with Robin Roberts." Batiste shared that she and her family "lost hope" of being rescued until three days later when they managed to signal a helicopter. She described the moment she was lifted to safety in a basket alongside her mother. "I'm holding onto my momma and I'm like, 'Man, I don't want the basket to fall. We're slinging over water and roofs right now. Like, this is big,'" she said.

Batiste is among the so-called "Katrina babies," children whose lives were forever altered by the storm, which resulted in nearly 1,400 deaths and over $100 billion in damages, according to the National Weather Service. Now 29, Batiste reflected on the shared experiences of her peers. "Everybody who was my age, all the 'Katrina babies,' we went through the same thing, because it was just like, in the twinkle of an eye, our lives changed."

Two decades later, many of these individuals, including New Orleans resident Jeremy Tauriac, continue to grapple with the psychological impacts of the disaster. "We have trauma to heal from. We have wires to untangle mentally," Tauriac stated. At 31, he is still processing the effects of the storm. He was 11 years old when Katrina forced him to mature quickly. Tauriac spent a year away from home, describing that time as merely "surviving."

Upon returning to New Orleans, he faced a stark reality. "Part of you as a kid gets excited, because you're finally going back home, but then you're also hit with the reality that home is no longer the same anymore the moment that you arrive," he said. The overwhelming sensory experience of returning to a changed city was difficult for him. "It smelled different. It smelled like floodwater. It smelled like death. The sensory overload coming back into the city is something that also gets compartmentalized being a child."

Batiste also experienced displacement after the storm and struggled to regain a sense of normalcy. "I didn't want to go to school. My house is not even there. Why do I need to come to school?" she expressed. Eventually, she found solace in music, which became her "therapy" and provided her with purpose. Batiste remained in New Orleans and now serves as the assistant band director at a local high school. "Ever since I was a little girl, I just loved this city and loved everything about it and the people," she said.

Tauriac, now a professional photographer, also found his passion in art as a means of escape. "Art was my escape," he noted. The special "Hurricane Katrina: 20 Years After the Storm with Robin Roberts" will air on Friday, August 29, at 8 p.m. ET, and will be available for streaming the following day on Disney+ and Hulu for bundle subscribers.