Minnesotans who witnessed Katrina reflect on destruction in Texas

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Tomorrow marks exactly 12 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the border between Louisiana and Mississippi, with images from Houston this week bringing back unspeakable memories for many who lost loved ones and their life's possessions in the storm.

Sandra Feist lives in Minnesota now, but she was a second-year law student in New Orleans when Katrina slammed the Gulf coast, moving north with nothing more than a few textbooks and a change of clothes.

"It was very emotional, weird and unsettling," she said. "On the Friday before Katrina we really had no idea that a historic hurricane was bearing down on us. At the end of the day I said 'goodbye,' and 'I will see you on Monday,' [but instead] I left my office forever."

She stopped in Arkansas to stay with a friend, but kept driving all the way to Minnesota--where she had family--once she learned the true extent of the storm. She transferred law schools and ultimately met her husband in the Twin Cities, staying there ever since.

Frank Powers is another Minnesotan who spent time in New Orleans--nearly two weeks as a volunteer, saying it's the worst natural disaster he's responded to.

When he sees the destruction this week in Texas, though, he knows the community will rebuild.

"I think people who haven't seen it are going to be shocked, it just goes for mile after mile driving through the area," he said. "People want to help and people should take advantage of those opportunities to connect with people who want to help them."