JH'sTXfan wrote:I grew up around Houston but now live west of San Antonio. A lot of the New Orleans refugees were living in the Alamodome in SA.
Our small town has a lot of summer camps and there were a lot of people placed here in the camps and hotels. Many of them have remained and say they're happier here. There's a much better economy and they have no problems finding jobs. I don't know how Houston was affected but it's actually been good for our town because it's mainly retirees living here and not a lot of younger employable people.
I sometimes have to play translator at work because the New Orleans accent is so strong, it's similar to East Texas where i grew up. My co-workers just stare at them like they're speaking a foreign language.

My pal in TX called it quits with the volunteer work after he stopped a rape in progress at the stadium where they were working. He's not been too happy overall with the change.
But I've met a lot of very nice people from there as well, including one family that we met by chance when they stopped to ask us for directions, and we ended up befriending them. They are a success story -- they assembled their family down here and got jobs, put the kids in school, and are as happy as they can be here. The more responsible people were a
little more prepared to do what it took to get back on their feet, while the riff-raff just brought their bad habits with them. Most of the people that fled Katrina that I met were very nice and grateful for everything, and I was more than happy to help in any way I could. I feel bad for places that ended up getting a bunch of criminals.
I tell ya, the mayor of New Orleans really rubbed me the wrong way when he had a press conference and said they only wanted people who were willing to work and contribute to return. Sounded noble on the outside, but so many states opened their arms to all the refugees (including the criminals), that it came off like he was telling them to keep the garbage and only send back the productive citizens. Yeah, that really rubbed me the wrong way.