Friday marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, leaving behind a trail of destruction that claimed more than 1,800 lives and caused over $108 billion in damage.

More than a million people evacuated the Gulf Coast, and thousands found refuge in North Texas.

One of them was Shareefah Mason.

“I’m a New Orleanian. I’m a Hurricane Katrina transplant to the area,” Mason said. “We really were unsheltered. We were unhoused because we didn’t have anywhere to go.”

Mason vividly remembers the fear and uncertainty of leaving her hometown behind. After the storm, she made Dallas her new home — and now, she’s helping others tell their stories through film.

On Thursday night, Mason presented her documentary _Magnolias in the Bluebonnets_ at a screening in Grand Prairie. The fil

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