MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
When authorities told New Orleanians to evacuate in advance of Hurricane Katrina, thousands headed to Houston. And they wound up staying, including Terrence Veal and his wife and six children. He found Houston welcoming and organized, but not an escape from extreme weather. We last spoke to him in 2017 when the city experienced flooding due to Hurricane Harvey. So we called him again to ask how he's doing and how he's reflecting on everything he and his past and current hometown have been through, and he's with us now. I hate to take you back there, but I am going to take you back there to 2005. Do you remember what it was like?
TERRENCE VEAL: I remember it like it was yesterday. I'll never forget the day before when we were getting - everybody was evacuating. We decided to stay because evacuation is extremely expensive, especially when you're not financially able to just, you know, do what you have to do. You know, I remember going from New Orleans to Atlanta, seeing the city, everything that I knew, everything that I've loved, everything that I've experienced as far as my culture just destroyed.
MARTIN: So first you went to Atlanta, and then you went to Houston. Why did you go to Houston?
VEAL: I had a wife, I had six kids, I had my mother. We're living off of one credit card. And so the infrastructure organization at the George R. Brown Convention Center, you can go to the dentist. You can get medical care, housing, food, clothing, even haircuts. You know, you get connected with FEMA, and FEMA set everything up. For that first year - we lived in a hotel for about four months. But once you got settled, that first year, FEMA set it up. We had free rent, free cellphones, like $1,000 a month in food vouchers, gas vouchers, free utilities for a year. For myself and for my family, I mean, it was a beautiful transition, outside of the obvious frustration and, you know, being uncomfortable.
MARTIN: And sadness of losing your home
VEAL: And sadness. Of course. Absolutely.
MARTIN: So, you know, you left New Orleans. You were 23. Did you think you were going back?
VEAL: I'm not nomadic by nature. But once I was forced out, you know, and time is passing, you know, Houston started to feel like home. You know, finally, my kids got into school. And, you know, not insulting my city because I love my city. But the infrastructure even then before Katrina, it just wasn't very positive. And Houston had so much opportunity.
MARTIN: So, you know, we talked back in 2017. And you experienced another hurricane, this time in Houston, Hurricane Harvey. You know, there was flooding. I remember we talked about that. And you were like, OK, at what point are we going to get out of here?
VEAL: (Laughter).
MARTIN: And that point came, and you did. But then in 2021, there was that winter storm that many people - the pipes froze.
VEAL: Yeah.
MARTIN: At that point, did you think maybe New Orleans isn't so bad?
VEAL: You have to have some kind of grit, you know? So that ice, I mean, you go from water to ice. I mean, it's like, come on, man. What are we doing? These natural disasters. It's just ridiculous, right?
(LAUGHTER)
VEAL: But you have to fight through it.
MARTIN: Did you ever think about leaving Houston, thinking, OK, I can't go through this again?
VEAL: Oh, no. No, no, no. At this point, no, no, because no matter where you go, it's going to be - if you're trying to run from nature, trying to escape that, no. And also, leaving Houston, no, it'd be asinine at this point because I was able to get it together, man. I was able to get back in school and get my bachelor's in business. I was able to go back to school and get my master's in education. You know, now, you know, I'm an educator of eight years teaching English, you know, eighth grade students in a Title I school, you know? So, no, no, no, no, no. Houston is home. This is where I'm going to be.
MARTIN: That is Terrence Veal. We reached him in Houston, where he evacuated 20 years ago following Hurricane Katrina. And he has made his home there since. Terrence Veal, thank you so much for speaking with us.
VEAL: Oh, no, thank you guys. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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