Five years after hurricane, transplants think of Kansas City as home

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - When Grantham University came to Kansas City to escape hurricane Katrina five years ago, most of the people who came with it thought of the move as temporary. Today many of them now feel at home.

"We came up here temporarily and temporarily turned into five years and I'm here now," said Rachel Cardwell, a Grantham employee.

Five years ago she was an evacuee, standing on a hilltop an hour or so inland of the gulf, trying to get cell phone reception. The first text she received was from her employer, telling her they were moving to Kansas City. She drove alone to a new city and a job she still wanted to do.

Michael Hooker is now Training Director at Grantham.

"It was pretty hard leaving family, but it was a good decision to make to move here," he says.

It was good for the University as well. When they made the move north, there were thirty-two employees, today there are nearly 10 times that number.

Grantham is an online university that offers associate, bachelors and masters degrees to working adult students, many of whom are veterans. They were located just outside New Orleans, until their buildings were destroyed by the hurricane. They were operational in Kansas City eight days after the hurricane hit. The university provided for their employees living expenses for six months while they got settled. They were also impressed by the Kansas City welcome.

"Kansas City was so great, they literally brought donations, clothing, food, everything, in truckloads," Cardwell said.

They all still visit regularly, and they're still hopeful that the Gulf Coast will continue to bounce back from the many misfortunes it's had to bear.

I'm from New Orleans....we'll never lose our culture or our spirit," said Daryl Thornton.

He remembers when he evacuated Grantham offices.

"We covered our computers thinking we would be back on Monday, business as usual... and we haven't been back since."

Many of the transplants now have families of their own in Kansas City. They do admit to missing one thing, though.

"I miss the seafood," Cardwell said.