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Sheila Craig has lived in Austin, Texas since she evacuated to escape Hurricane Katrina. She’s built a thriving life for herself and her family away from New Orleans, her hometown.
Craig lost her home and nearly all of her possessions in the storm. But what she misses the most is something that she hasn’t been able to regain: community.
“We didn’t realize that we had our own little slice of heaven, in a sense, because of the bond and the relationship we had there,” Craig said.
That sense of community was built through strengthening ties with her neighbors. Craig lived in her Carrollton-area home for nearly 20 years prior to Katrina. She told Verite News that she knew all of her neighbors and they would look out for her and her family. They spent time together, supported each other and lived their lives together. She described that community as an extension of her family.
Tight-knit communities like hers were the norm in New Orleans prior to Katrina. It wasn’t until she moved away that she realized how special it was. Despite her efforts to foster new community ties in Austin, she hasn’t been able to replicate the experience of being embraced in New Orleans.
She compares it to losing a loved one. It’s something she mourns to this day.
“While I knew that things were progressing here in Austin, I also missed home. I missed those times, those relationships, celebrations,” she said.
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