Sometimes When You Lose You Win

Seven years ago, in August 2005 my sister called me on a Saturday before dawn. She informed me that her boss, Mayor Ray Nagin, was calling a mandatory evacuation at 1:00p.m. and I should make arrangements so our family could leave together.  That morning, I was scheduled to staff my own boss, the Lieutenant Governor, during a funeral of a prominent community leader.  Having prior evacuated several times in the last couple of years, it never crossed my mind for a second that this evacuation would be the mother of all evacuations. I don’t believe any of us really understood what was coming. I advised the Lt Governor I would be evacuating to Texas and he directed me to report to our Baton Rouge offices’ on Tuesday.  On Saturday, after the funeral; my kids and I jumped in the car with a limit of 3 items each (my daughter had packed everything in her room and was distraught when I enforced the 3 items limit). I’d not spent much time watching the news like my kids, who were hanging on every word of the news anchors, and my daughter had determined that an immediate return would be futile.  In hindsight, the children were clearly more prepared then I despite I spent most of the morning with every elected official/decision maker in the city.  

Right before our departure, I received a call from the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff.  Although the Mayor’s press conference had not occurred, the Governor’s office was advising constituents to evacuate and the people were not responding.  I was directed to reach out to the churches to encourage their congregations to evacuate. I’m glad we left when we did because the 8 hour ride to Houston was a welcome in comparison to the 14 hour ride we experienced during the last evacuation (it usually took us 5 hours to drive to Houston from New Orleans). Although I would have preferred to travel to Atlanta because Houston was the default location for years, we didn’t because the snippet of news I did watch was directing evacuees not to travel that route.  Nevertheless, I was the first of my family to arrive to Houston.  My friends and siblings were in tow; my parents were refusing to evacuate and my brother stayed behind to make sure they departed. As we got comfortable at the hotel that I had only booked through Monday, the news reports were starting to look very grim. On Sunday I was almost in a panic when I couldn’t locate lodging that would accommodate all of us for the rest of the week. The rain had start to beat down New Orleans and reality set in that we would not be returning on Monday, Tuesday, or even Wednesday. With more than 20 of us, the floors became the bed but being together made it comforting and everything worked itself out.

On Monday (the day Katrina made landfall), being an evacuee was no longer a priority; I had to put on my work hat quick, fast and in a hurry. I realized that if history repeated itself, Houston would soon be flooded with New Orleanians.  As the Community and Governmental Affairs Director for the Lieutenant Governor, there was lots of work to be done and no other city came to the rescue like Houston.  On Thursday, I learned that the levee breached near the Lake Front caused my property to take in 10 feet of water. There was no time to mourn.  I set up an office at City Hall and Senator Ellis’s. Through amazing partnerships with Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, BET, 97.9 The Box,  Red Cross, The City of Houston, Harris County  and elected officials throughout the State we served. During this very trying time I witnessed and experienced unconditional love.    Nevertheless; “to have ying, you must have yang” and unfortunately despite the many good experiences, there were as many bad experiences.  However; sometimes when you lose you win.  I lost relationships I valued because I didn’t return to live in New Orleans after the storm.   According to some, not returning to post with the Lieutenant Governor hurt my career. However; despite the loss of everything (and I did not have adequate insurance) over the last seven years I have accumulated more than I ever owned. If I would have returned to New Orleans I would not have been blessed with the opportunity to create the City of Houston’s first Department of Neighborhoods. I would not have met the many wonderful Houstonian’s I call friends. On the heels of having twenty guests at my home who evacuated to Houston because of Hurricane Isaac during the anniversary week of Katrina and as bad as things seemed, you can always have a winning outlook because sometimes even when you lose, you win.