The Franzs' daughter Annabelle was only two years old when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Their son Ethan was born in the months following their return home in 2006.[/caption]"I was preparing for a wind event," Cherie Franz said. "I told Art to put the computer on the bed, I remember saying, 'If we have that much water [enough to reach the computer], we are in trouble.'"
Located in the waterfront suburb of Lakeview, Louisiana, the Franzs' home filled with 7 1/2 feet of water. Cherie Franz said she considered herself lucky in this regard; if the water had reached the ceiling, some of her family's most prized possessions stored in the attic would have been destroyed.
A day after arriving in Houston, the storm in New Orleans had passed and Cherie said her and Art thought they may be able to return. Aerial footage of their home submerged in water dashed their hopes, and the severity of the situation set in.
The family spent some time in Houston and Austin before landing in the North Dallas suburb of Allen. While the memory of Katrina still stings, Cherie Franz said the kindness of strangers along the way helped to dull the pain.
"The people of Houston were incredible," she said. "A man who owned a gas station gave us a free oil change. Another man walked up to our car and handed us $100. Friends of friends bought us dinner, groceries or toys ... We were overwhelmed by the generosity and caring."
The Franzs petitioned former Mayor Ray Nagin to allow residents of Lakeview back into the neighborhood to assess the damage brought on by Hurricane Katrina.[/caption]After petitioning then-Mayor Ray Nagin to allow them back into their neighborhood, over a month after the storm Cherie and Art visited New Orleans to assess the damage of their home. They organized a "Back to the Breach" community meeting for the residents of Lakeview to come together and devise a plan to move forward.
The citizens of Lakeview drafted a letter to members of Congress asking them to invest in secure infrastructure as a safeguard against a future disaster.
"Is it not wiser to spend millions of dollars for adequate flood protection today and avoid the tens of billions in losses should this happen again?" the letter asked. "If you do not act, it will happen again. Sooner or later. It is a statistical inevitability."
Advice for Harvey survivors
The events that led to the flooding in New Orleans are different than what caused the destruction in Houston, Cherie Franz said. Still, the aftermath is the same, and much of what helped the Franzs recover from Katrina can also be applied to survivors of Hurricane Harvey.
Unlike the survivors of Hurricane Katrina who had to wait for water to be pumped out of the city, in Houston the waters will eventually recede back into Gulf of Mexico, Cherie Franz said, allowing many of those displaced by the storm to return home. Some survivors will want to rush to clean their homes, but they should practice caution, Cherie Franz said.
"Be very wary of bacteria," she said. "I know people who got infections trying to clean up."
Items of sentimental value, such as photos, should be handled by professionals, she said.
"You can place them out to dry, but other than that, leave them be," she said. "I made the mistake of fooling with them myself, but there are restorative places that can help you fix your pictures."
Annabelle was only two years old when the Franzs fled New Orleans, and as much as her parents tried to protect her, her mother said she was still painfully aware of what had occurred at home. The young children of Harvey survivors are cognizant of loss, and their parents should try to insulate them as much as they can, Cherie Franz said.
"Children notice everything," she said. "These kids are most likely going to witness seeing their bedrooms destroyed and their toys gone. I would imagine that is going to be really hard."
After the media frenzy dies down and much of the nation returns to business as usual, Cherie Franz wanted to remind the public that the people of Houston will be recovering from this event for months and even years to come. The pain of losing your home, your possessions and for some, your loved ones, is especially palpable during the holidays, she said.
"Around Christmas, [the public should] think about those families," she said. "They are still going to be hurting and not in a financial position to do a whole lot, so if you can adopt a family for Christmas, I would say absolutely do it."
While she recognizes the value of donating to organizations such as the Red Cross, the Franzs said they were most helped most by individual acts of kindness. Using social media as a tool to connect with a displaced family that may need assistance or starting a campaign on a crowdfunding platform is a great way to make change on a personal level.
"If you can reach out to one family or two families personally, I feel like that goes a lot [further]," she said. "That is what a made a difference to us. When we needed help, these people showed up out of the woodwork and gave us help, and we never forgot it."
