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It was August 29, 2005—20 years ago—when Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating hurricanes on record, roared ashore along Louisiana's Mississippi border.
It left more than 1,800 people dead and put 80% of New Orleans underwater.
An estimated 35,000 people came to the San Antonio area for refuge after the storm, many having lost family members, their homes, and all their possessions.
85-year-old retired nurse Gloria Ford had been a resident of New Orleans for 10 years when the storm hit. She got a phone call from her husband, Henry, who had gone into work on Saturday, the day before Katrina came ashore.
She recalled her husband's warning: “'Katrina has turned, and we’re gonna get out of town,'" she said. "And so, we prepared to leave that day, which we did."
They were only able to bring a few things with them, some clothing and legal papers. Everything else was lost after the levee nearby broke during the onslaught.
"Our wedding pictures—all of that was gone. My mother had given me coins, silver dollars from the 18th century. I didn't take that, and I regret that. I had bought an organ, because I was taking organ lessons. That was ruined. My sewing machine …things like that that I couldn’t replace right away."
Gloria and Henry left town along with ten family members, their niece and her family, and Henry’s daughter and their family. Henry’s nephew had an apartment in New Braunfels. Some of them also stayed in a Motel 6. The family made New Braunfels their new home, with the help of some local churches.
"They helped us. They gave us host families that helped us to find places to stay, and they provided ... food for us to eat ... and they provided the Christ-filled atmosphere that was so needed at that time," she said.
Gloria and Henry settled into their new lives in New Braunfels. They both found satisfying work and enjoyed new friends and their new church home.
One day they noticed a sign in front of an elementary school that said they would be closed for a holiday but didn’t say which holiday. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Gloria and Henry didn’t feel right about the omission. They later found out that New Braunfels did not have an MLK Day parade, so Henry set out to start one.
"Before I knew what was going on, he had talked to people here in New Braunfels, officials and public figures and people that lived here, and they said, 'sure, we would love to have a Martin Luther King march here. We should have had one before.'"
The MLK march in New Braunfels, founded by Henry, began in 2015 and continues to this day. He passed away in 2022.
Gloria is currently writing a history of the New Braunfels MLK Association that she hopes to finish before next year.
She said it’s hard to believe where their family was 20 years ago.
"It's really mind-boggling that 20 years ago we were just a breath away from being under the bridge ourselves—and homeless. Had it not been for the love of people here. We could have been homeless."
Though the storm almost destroyed her family's life, she has no regrets.
“Well, the disaster happened because it was God's work. I mean, we can't do anything about that."
