Houston Astrodome

I had the opportunity to visit the Reliant Astrodome, more commonly known as The Astrodome in Houston, Texas. In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, I lent my services to the American Red Cross as a Disaster Services Relief Volunteer. Once the news came out across the various media outlets that New Orleans and its hurricane shelter, the Louisiana Superdome was being evacuated, I immediately paid a visit to the local American Red Cross chapter in Santa Ana to inquire about volunteering should assistance be needed. After a three hour Disaster Relief overview, I was informed to contact the travel portion of the ARC so I could book my flight to Houston two days later for my assignment. While I had been on many trips before in different portions of the country, this was the type of trip where I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

The Astrodome was first thought up as early as 1952 but didn't come to be a reality until MLB expanded in 1960 with two National League Expansion teams, the Houston Colt .45s (later renamed the Astros) and the New York Mets. Upon completion, the Astrodome was the worlds first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium of its kind. The Astrodome went on to usher in an era of fully domed stadiums, such as the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Kingdome in Seattle, RCA Dome in Indianapolis and the Superdome in New Orleans. Both the MLB Houston Astros along with the NFL Houston Oilers, who later became the Tennessee Titans called the Astrodome their home until the late 1990s. While it was primarily a sporting venue, the Astrodome played host to many well known events including Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, WWE WrestleMania 17 in 2001, 2004 motion picture Friday Night Lights, Tejano music superstar Selena's last televised concert before her death and the event which brought me to the venue, Hurricane Katrina Relief.

By the time that I arrived to Houston in September 2005, the ARC had already set-up shelters inside of the Astrodome, Reliant Arena and the spacious Reliant Center for those who had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. After a quick layover in Phoenix, my friend and I each got our assignments where we would spend the next two weeks of our life. Chris was sent with a small team to a small town in nearby Orange, TX which bordered Louisiana while I stayed in Houston. Several hours later, I had arrived to Reliant Park after a short ride on the light rail from downtown Houston. While I had knew what to expect going into this assignment, I really had no idea what I would be in for.. The Reliant Park complex was lined from one-side to the other with emergency vehicles, media and thousands of people. The photo below best describes what I saw while I was checking-in. The photo was taken from the 2nd floor of the Reliant Center facing the Astrodome.

Over the next two weeks, I learned how much damage was caused not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally to the thousands of people who called this place home. One day I was helping hundreds of strangers get checked-in and situated as they arrived on buses from the affected Gulf Coast region, while the next few days were spent hearing first hand accounts from those who were enduring their own personal hell of being separated from their family and friends to battling health issues (keep in mind please that I saw everything imaginable related to this)and trying to determine how they would re-build their life. The eight hours that I spent each day between the Astrodome and Reliant Center were some of the most eye awakening experiences in my life still to this day. At times, it was difficult to fathom was I was experiencing that you also needed separation to realize fully what was going on. Shortly near the time that my volunteer work concluded, the locations begun to shut down in preparation for the Houston Texans opener and oncoming Hurricane Rita which struck Houston two days after I left.

The spacious Astrodome gave those of us who were working there available time to not only explore it, but get a break from what was going on. To this day, the Astrodome is the biggest sporting venue that I have walked in. I was very fortunate to get to explore every level of it and soak in its rich history. It's no secret while they refer to this place as the "Eighth Wonder of the World."