It is too early to determine the long-term impact Hurricane Harvey will have on North Texas, but lessons learned after Hurricane Katrina are shaping the response from North Texas leaders and helping them prepare for the weeks and months ahead.
"We now are better organized, better prepared, we know where the faciliites are we know how to program," said Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway.
Having served on the city council when Hurricane Katrina hit Caraway saw first-hand the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of the storm.
The hurricane and subsequent flooding displaced one million people. A year later more than 250,000 evacuees were still living in Texas. 66,000 called Dallas-Fort Worth Home according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Bus loads of evacuees were arriving steadily. Some people did not even know where they were going until they arrived in their destination.
"We have to do something that's going to kind of throw a blanket and an arm around them and make them feel welcome," he said. "We must help and Dallas will help."
If there is anyone who understands what Houston residents who were forced to flee their homes are going through, it's Roosevelt Pierre.
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"When you have to leave your relatives and your family and the city you love...you get to a point when you say to yourself, 'What am I going to do?'"
Pierre was born and raised in New Orleans. He served on the city's police force until he traded in his badge for a chef's hat.
Hurricane Katrina brought Pierre and his wife to North Texas. The couple never looked back.
"I consider myself a "Tex-Orleanian," Pierre said.
Like Pierre, the thousands of evacuees from Houston who are headed to North Texas could have to decide whether they will stay temporarily or permanently.
Caraway said North Texas is in a much better position in 2017 than it was in 2005 for those who decided to put down roots and not go back to Houston.
"We're able now to better serve and register (people), go through the process we need to go through to accommodate those who have lost everything in life," Caraway said.
"We have to now sharpen our tools to be ready to find people jobs, we have to find housing, we're going to have to accommodate identification and all types of records and paperwork," Caraway said. "We prospered from (Katrina). I think (the response) will be better for this particular tragedy."
Dallas ISD officials said the school district is also better equipped to handle an influx of students. More than 2,000 students enrolled following Hurricane Katrina.
"We have activated our network all over town, we're also in communication with the state about documents required to enroll," said Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa.
Hinojosa said giving parents the opportunity to get their children in school is best for families.
"It's not going to be a good situation for the kids to be (in a shelter) 24/7. It's much better to be in a situation they're at least somewhat comfortable with in a school environment," he said.
A reduction in enrollment and the building of several new schools will give the district the capacity it needs to handle a sudden spike in enrollment, but major questions linger over the amount of teachers the district will need.
"We have to be very carful about long term committments. Are we going to hire a lot of teachers and give them a contract for a whole year if we aren't going to have the students?" Hinojosa said. "The biggest judgement call is we have to convince our board..to hire these teachers or...just hire subs and make classes a little bit bigger.s
