Hurricane Katrina survivors living in Houston describe Harvey as 'like losing your mind all over again'

Of the 150,000 to 200,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees who fled Louisiana for Houston, Texas, in 2005, approximately 40,000 still call the Magnolia City home today, The Wall Street Journal reports. For those thousands, Hurricane Harvey was a painful reprise: "It's like losing your mind all over again," said Terrence McKinney, who fled Katrina and watched a woman get pulled away by the floodwaters in Harvey. "Watching death happen, losing everything again."

Kate Quarrella, who lost her home in New Orleans and now lives in Dickinson, Texas, also said she is reliving a nightmare. "It was basically like watching everything over again, and there's nothing I can do," she told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I can't cry anymore."

Others used their experience in Katrina to prepare for Harvey's approach: "You can't let this kind of weather catch you sleeping," said Patricia McGinnis, who lives in a housing development in southwest Houston for Hurricane Katrina survivors.

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Comparisons between the two hurricanes are plentiful, especially in conversations about the anticipated damages. Harvey could be "the most costly natural disaster in United States history," Accuweather writes, potentially exceeding the "economic impact of Katrina and [Hurricane] Sandy combined."