NEW ORLEANS — The floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina inundated the streets of New Orleans nearly five years ago, leaving the New Orleans Saints no place to call home for an entire season.The scene was vastly different Tuesday as a deluge of Saints fans lined the streets of downtown New Orleans to welcome home the Saints following the team’s Super Bowl victory against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. The city celebrated its first professional sports championship in a fashion familiar to New Orleans — a parade. A number of marching bands accompanied a fleet of a dozen floats, provided by some of the city’s premiere Mardi Gras krewes, that carried more than 250 Saints players, coaches and staff members. The three-mile route stretched from the New Orleans Superdome to the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center.The city, still scarred from Hurricane Katrina, was able to stand proudly for a sports franchise that has become an integral part of the fabric of New Orleans. Bobby Hebert, former Saints quarterback and radio analyst, addressed a raucous crowd in front of Gallier Hall on St. Charles Avenue before the parade began.”We can all embrace this team because they give us hope,” Hebert said.One of the parade’s highlights occurred when Saints quarterback and Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees received a toast from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).”Move over Peyton Manning, because New Orleans has a new   favorite son,” Vitter said.A festive Brees then expressed his gratitude for the city of New Orleans.”We love our city, and we love our championship,” Brees said.Daniel Landry, a 30-year-old resident of New Orleans and lifelong Saints fan, said he is overjoyed the city hosted a victory parade in honor of the Saints.”If you’re really a fan, you feel depressed when you think about what this team has gone through over the years,” Landry said. “But this is crazy — a lot of spirit, happiness and community support.”Rachel Reddit, a 29-year-old New Orleanian, said the importance of the Saints’ success stretches far beyond the gridiron.”It was the most incredible moment of my life,” Reddit said. “I’ve never been so happy. During [Hurricane] Katrina, the city was united, but united around something sad. This means so much more than football for so many people.”Reddit, who works at New  Orleans Children’s Hospital, said the Saints have given hope to many children she sees on a daily basis. She said she has seen countless people who have found strength in the stories of players like Brees, who signed with the Saints during the 2006 offseason following reconstructive surgery on his throwing shoulder. The surgery made many franchises in the NFL unwilling to take a chance on Brees.”His story has given so much inspiration to so many children,” Reddit said. “We’re so proud of this team, and not just because of how good they play football.”The history of the Saints franchise has had its fair share of futility since the organization’s inception in 1967. The team struggled to gain respect in the NFL as the Saints did not record their first playoff victory until 2000. The Saints’ three victories in the 2009 postseason eclipsed the franchise total of two playoff wins prior to this year’s playoffs.—-Contact Cory Boudreaux at [email protected]