Katrina - 5 Years Later

Once billed the "eighth wonder of the world" by a former owner, the Houston Astrodome made history as the first covered ballpark in America. It would later provide shelter to weary Katrina evacuees bused in from New Orleans and the Superdome. At the height of its use as a shelter hub, more than 15,000 people bedded on cots in the facility.

Family in Houston

The Spotts family at home in Houston. Tisha is the mother, Amiracle her daughter, Nicholas, a seven-year-old is on the left and Tyron, a nine-year-old to his right. This family moved to Houston following the storm along with 100,000 others.

Responding to the Crisis

Tisha and her four children spent three nights in New Orleans' Charles J. Colton Junior High School after floodwater inundated their Ninth Ward home. Spotts says she'd never stolen anything before in her life, but was forced to take food from nearby stores to ensure her children had something to eat.

A Whole New Ball Game

Tyron makes this catch as Nicholas and a neighborhood friend play football at their apartment complex in southwest Houston where many New Orleanians remain.

At Home in Houston

Many Katrina evacuees who settled in Texas eventually made their home in southwest Houston and its warren of apartment buildings like this family.