AUGUSTA, Ga. () – The tragedy in New Orleans is being felt here at home.  

It was a shocking start to the new year. We talked to two Georgia fans who were in New Orleans when it happened. 

Lynn Carswell was among those whose New Year’s celebrations took a horrible turn. She and several others were staying at a hotel near where the incident happened. She says that at first, her friends at the bar thought it was a shooting.

“It was stopped right outside the bar where they were, and so the gunfight was right there. And so, they locked the bar doors, and they were stuck inside and locked down inside the bar and then finally released out the back side of the bar,” said Lynn Carswell, Augusta Resident.

She says she also has questions about security surrounding the Sugar Bowl. 

“I find it annoying that there getting a pass on that. Why does security have to ramped up for the Superbowl but not for the sugar bowl. Stadium still seats the same number of people,” said Carswell.

Merv Waldrop is the Burke County Manager. He told me there is definitely an uneasy feeling right now in New Orleans.

“I’m very much unsettled. The atmosphere in town is subdued today, especially compared to the last two days,” said Merv Waldrop, Augusta Resident.

Waldrop and his group were on Bourbon Street Tuesday night. They left a little before the incident happened.

“Still, it was a party even at 2 in the morning. So, there was a lot of people out, and it was loud. So, I could see if something was coming, you might not hear it,” said Waldrop.

Another impact of this incident? The tension between the two fan bases has been toned down. 

“What I’ve noticed with the Georgia and Notre Dame people are is a comradery,” said Waldrop.

Both Carswell and Waldrop plan to stay for the game tomorrow, and are looking forward to a good game, even after everything that has happened.