When Hurricane Katrina churned toward the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, Kelsey McCaffrey’s biggest worry wasn’t floodwaters or evacuation routes. She was thinking about the Kelly Clarkson concert she would be forced to miss.
“That was the mindset of a teenager,” quipped McCaffrey, who was 12 at the time. “It wasn’t about devastation. It was about my plans being ruined.”
Within days, the Category 3 storm would upend her life and thousands of others across Louisiana’s parishes. McCaffrey, who lived with her family in Metairie, just outside New Orleans, evacuated with her mother and sister to Houston. Her father, a doctor, stayed behind to work before joining them a few days later.
Like so many families accustomed to the unpredictability of hurricane season in Louisiana, they thought they’d return within days and had packed accordingly. Instead, the levees failed, flooding neighborhoods with water in some areas as high as 10 to 20 feet. Soon, a somber realization set.
“I remember being holed up in the Hyatt Hotel in Houston with so many other people from New Orleans, watching the storm unfold on huge TV screens,” McCaffrey remembered. “That’s when it started to hit me, this wasn’t just a normal evacuation. Things weren’t going back to normal.”
As soon as residents were allowed back into the metro area, her father traveled by boat to survey the damage to their home. He found the downstairs flooded and important documents, such as their passports and birth certificates, ruined. Soon after, the McCaffreys decided to relocate to Vail, Colo., where McCaffrey’s grandparents owned a home.
“I always thought it was temporary,” she said. “I remember my parents looking up schools online, and I was so confused. Living there didn’t feel real.”
Within days, they were enrolled in a private school in Vail, where her parents still live to this day, but the transition to a new state wasn’t easy. McCaffrey initially resisted making friends and struggled with anger and denial.
“I was a feisty teenager,” she said, with a giggle. “I kept thinking, ‘What’s the point of making friends? I’m going back to New Orleans.’ It was a lot of tears and frustration at not having control.”
Mom Leesa Samuels admits that she, too, was emotional on their first day of school.
“I cried when I dropped off my fourth grader [Kelsey] and her younger sister, Haley,” she said. “All the kids were waiting in the hallway, and they started clapping and yelling for the new girl. And I just lost it.”
Samuels said it was tough for everyone, but they eventually decided to build a new life in Vail. She went back to work as a nurse, and her then-husband got hired as a doctor at a nearby hospital. Slowly, McCaffrey and her sister Haley, now 29, got more settled, too. Joining a local soccer team helped McCaffrey feel more a part of the Colorado community, as she struggled with the extreme cultural shift from life in New Orleans to living among the mountains.
“It took me a long time to adjust,” she said. “But eventually, I realized: This is home.”
A 'hybrid' identity
Now 32 and living in Denver’s Berkeley neighborhood, McCaffrey says the life and loss she experienced due to Katrina have shaped who she is today, especially her ability to embrace change. For example, she credits the experience with helping her adapt to new experiences, including living in Brooklyn, New York, for a decade.
“One of my biggest qualities is resilience, and I share that with a lot of people from New Orleans,” she said.
Samuels agreed.
“I've watched [both] my girls grow, and they're very independent,” she said.
The family eventually repaired and quickly sold their Louisiana home, which strained some relationships with friends and family back home.
“I think we were looked at as the people who left and didn’t give New Orleans another shot,” she said. “But whenever I go back, I have the most amazing time and such nostalgic memories. It’s incredible to see the city thriving after so much devastation.”
All these years, she has held on to one special reminder of her “Katrina experience,” a stuffed bear named Corduroy.
“He’s always been my security blanket,” she said of the childhood toy, well-worn over the years. “I brought him with me during the evacuation, and I still have him today.”
Two decades later, McCaffrey considers herself both a New Orleans native and a proud Coloradan.
“It’s a hybrid identity,” she said. “I feel blessed to carry both.”
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