FORT WORTH, Texas – Two men with two stories of having to begin again. When the course of life was forever changed by Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.

Big picture view:

Friday, August 29 is the 20-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina storming ashore in New Orelans. More than 1,800 people lost their lives.

FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb spoke with two men who made North Texas home following Hurricane Katrina’s fury ravaging the city of New Orleans.

North Texas residents from New Orleans

The soul of New Orleans meets the heart of Texas at the Pelican House Restaurant in Duncanville. Louis Rainey has built success at the Pelican House. He now serves on the board of the Dallas and State Restaurant Associations.

Rainey was the Governor’s head lobbyist in Louisiana 20 years ago.

“You see the culture here, the culture that we bring to Texas. That good binding culture that we have in New Orleans, man it’s unstoppable. That’s one of the reasons why we created this,” said Rainey. “We came right before the storm. Let me tell you, man, it was something else.”

The Saturday before the storm, Rainey and his wife had a housewarming party for their new home in the Crescent City.     

“A house we had just bought and gutted it out. Re-did it with my own hands,” he said. 

A house that was lost in the storm. 

The normal eight-hour drive from New Orleans, Louisiana to North Texas took 16 hours with evacuations underway. 

The family stayed in a hotel for three months while Rainey figured out their future. 

“We’re paying full price, the hotel started working with us maybe after a month,” said Rainey.  “Yeah, but GOD… but GOD.” 

Dig deeper:

Edward Morgan, like Louis Rainey, came to North Texas because of Hurricane Katrina. Morgan worked for BellSouth when the storm came, then AT&T in North Texas, before launching his Revitalizing Charging Solutions.

Revitalizing Charging Solutions is the first Texas company to manufacture commercial and residential charging stations for vehicles. His chargers are located across Texas and other states. 

Something that Morgan may never have done absent Hurricane Katrina pushing him out of New Orleans.

“So these are chargers that we are actually quality-testing right now,” said Morgan. “And so we’re excited about where it’s going. We’re excited to be a part of it. We’re excited to be in Texas. We’re excited to be here in Fort Worth.” 

Local perspective:

“Every day is a joyful day to come in to work here,” said Rainey.

“Let me tell you, resilience is not only in my blood, but people from New Orleans’ blood. This couldn’t stop us, it just made us better.” 

Many others like Rainey and Morgan now call North Texas home. Both go back to the big easy, but they’ve planted new roots here in North Texas. 

Roots that are 20 years deep and growing.

The Source: Information in this article was provided from interviews conducted by FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb.

TexasFort WorthTarrant CountyDuncanvilleDallasLouisianaNatural DisastersNatural DisastersHurricanes