Walking on a trail around a pond in Murray, Edwa and Louis Towns marvel at the ducks, swans and schools of small perch swimming in the clear water.

They used to be afraid to leave their rented house in Orleans Parish, where drug dealing, violence and poverty were rampant. Now the Hurricane Katrina evacuees make their home at the Old Farm Apartments at Fox Point, and they plan to stay.

It's been a trying year for the Townses, but each now has a full-time job with benefits, and they have a minivan, new furniture and much better living arrangements then they ever imagined.

They moved last month to Murray from a downtown Salt Lake City apartment.

"It's better over here," Louis said. "We couldn't play music at our other place. We have more freedom here."

Before buying a 1996 Dodge Caravan just last week, the couple relied on buses. Edwa had to rise at 4 a.m. to make it by 6 a.m. to her job as a cafeteria manager at L-3 Communication Systems near the airport.

As for Louis, bus service had stopped by the time he finished work setting up conventions at The Salt Palace, so his boss would drive him home at midnight.

The Townses often reflect on how they wound up in Utah. They decided to ride out the storm and, after the levees broke, walked three miles in chest-deep, toxic water to the infamous New Orleans Convention Center.

Louis was hobbled by a work-related foot injury and Edwa was running out of diabetes and hypertension medication. Stuck in the chaos of the convention center for five days, they witnessed fights, dying babies and elderly people, marauding gangsters, the stench of feces and urine, food shortages and dehydration.

When they finally landed in Utah, they were rushed to Salt Lake Regional Medical Center for treatment. Louis' toe was badly infected, but doctors managed to save it. As with all the Katrina evacuees, the people of Utah rallied to provide food, housing and medical care.

Later, the Townses had marital troubles, and Louis returned to New Orleans to help out with the rebuilding. He went back to Edwa shortly after she attended her grandfather's funeral just outside New Orleans in March.

Offered counseling, the Townses turned instead to faith. Louis now gives sermons at Mama's Temple of Faith, a Pentecostal Church in Holladay.

"You can always go to God," he said. "God was with us during Katrina, and he's with us now. He brought me and my wife to a better place."

chamilton@sltrib.com