Regarding your editorial (15 September), I live in Houston, Texas, and would like to tell you about the help our city extended to the people of New Orleans when they had to leave their homes after the flood following the hurricane Katrina 10 years ago.
The migrant crisis in Europe is similar in many respects to the diaspora created by Katrina. Just as some people in Europe don’t want these migrants to come to their community, some people in Texas weren’t sure they wanted the Katrina refugees to come here.
Houston’s mayor, Bill White, rallied round a coalition that included not just government, but many volunteers from religious and community groups. Almost everyone in Houston helped in one way or another. This coalition managed to process a huge number of people, including many who required medical help, in a short period of time.
More than 50,000 people came to Houston from the Superdome and Convention Center in New Orleans about a week after New Orleans city flooded. They were initially housed in Houston’s Astrodome. Within three weeks everyone had been put into housing or taken in by residents, and the Astrodome was emptied.
Houston became a safe haven for many more people from New Orleans as that autumn progressed. By Christmas, Houston had 250,000 people from New Orleans staying in the city. Over time, many returned home, but about 90,000 stayed on permanently.
During the first year in Houston, there were some problems. Some of New Orleans’ criminal element had come with the flood of ordinary people. Mayor White was able to work with the community to help it turn these people out. There were also cultural differences that took some getting used to on both sides.
Houston is richer and more vibrant due to that influx from New Orleans, in food, in music, in art, in people who appreciate the good they found in Houston.
I am sure the European problem is a little more complex than the one following Katrina, but I believe Bill White’s experience may be of some help to Angela Merkel and other European leaders.
Marianthe Leach
Houston, Texas
