michael barbaroHey, it’s Michael. This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year, and hearing what’s happened in the time since they first ran. Today: We return to the aftermath of the unusual storm that devastated Texas last winter, leaving thousands of its residents without shelter or power, to learn how the lives of the women we spoke to in Dallas have since changed. It’s Friday, December 31.[music]Jack, you went to Texas just a few days after this crippling winter storm and these mass power outages began in mid-February. So tell us about what you saw.jack healyWell, the first thing that I saw was a sort of patchwork quilt of light and darkness as the flight into Dallas broke through the clouds. About a third of the city was still without power. And as I drove around and talked to people, I was getting the sense that there was this real invisible crisis taking shape.You know, I’ve covered hurricanes in Texas, and I’ve covered other natural disasters over the years. And often, you see people’s houses that are flooded with water. You see houses that are burned down. A tornado destroys homes. That sort of thing.But the wounds that families had suffered across the state were a lot less visible this time. And I really wanted to try to understand that damage. And so I started talking to people in working class parts of Dallas. And I met three women whose stories really exemplified the hidden hurt lingering across Texas.michael barbaroSo tell me about the first of these women.jack healyDo you go by Iris or Irasema?iris cantuMy real name, Irasema Cantu. But I go by Iris.jack healyIris? OK. Whatever you prefer.jack healyHer name is Iris Cantu, and she lives on the south side of Dallas. And she was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was 15. But when she was 18, her father died. And it was a family tragedy that forced her and her sisters to go to work. And Iris is 45 and has been basically working nonstop.Right now, she’s a nanny. And every day, she gets up at 6:30 in the morning, and she drives across town to take care of the child of a wealthier couple in a nicer neighborhood.jack healyHave you liked living here?iris cantuYes. Yes. I wanted to have a house. Like I say, there’s nothing like going to your house after a hard work day.jack healyYeah. Yeah.iris cantuSo I always think you want to have your own spot.jack healyYeah.iris cantuBut you know, like me, working for a lot of families and being in these humongous houses and rich people, but you still want to go to your own spot.jack healyYeah.jack healySo for Iris, buying a little single story house on the south side of Dallas was the culmination of years of work and a dream. It costs her $82,000 at the time, back in 2003, and it has meant everything to her.jack healyIt seems like the floors are OK.iris cantuNo.jack healyOh, no.jack healyAnd right inside the foyer, in the living room there, was a big hole in the ceiling where the ceiling had collapsed from the burst pipes.jack healyOh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Unbelievable. That’s all of the insulation.iris cantuEverything.jack healyAnd the roof. Yeah.iris cantuSo I panic. I mean, I panic because of her.jack healyWhat’s her name?iris cantuSamara.jack healyHi, Samara. Hello.jack healyShe lives there with her three-year-old daughter Samara. And Iris sort of walked me around where else the water had started to infiltrate her home. And right above the hot water heater in the garage, the ceiling was turning this kind of nasty sort of swamp sewer brown. And Iris was worried that she was sort of living on borrowed time before another part of the house caved in.michael barbaroIs this house you’re walking around feeling inhabitable? It sounds like she’s still living there.jack healyShe’s still living there. And they were making it work. But Iris is concerned because her daughter Samara has asthma. And after the ceiling caved in, she was worried because she had started to notice some coughs and things like that.But the problem for Iris now is that money was already tight. And this damage, which her homeowner’s insurance company says they’re not going to cover, is going to probably end up costing between $6,000 and $7,000. And that’s money that she and a lot of working folks around Texas don’t have just lying around.jack healyDo you feel safe in the house right now?iris cantuNot with that roof in there. Like, you see the — so I’m kind of scared. I don’t know what to do. But we’re trying to stay in that room. You know, try to stay away from here.jack healyYeah. Yeah.jack healyIt’s really compounded an incredibly difficult year for Iris, which started when she got sick with coronavirus back in June.michael barbaroShe also had coronavirus?jack healyYeah. Yeah. Iris and one of her sisters live close to each other. And her sister’s family got it. And then Iris got it. And she was laid up in bed for a couple of weeks. She didn’t have to go to the hospital. She’s OK now, but it really walloped her. And it also hurt her financially because that was two weeks that she wasn’t able to work or earn money.michael barbaroSo first Covid, and then this unbelievable storm.jack healyYeah.michael barbaroAnd her home is now damaged, and she doesn’t have the money to make the repairs.jack healyYeah.jack healyAll right. Well, thank you so much.iris cantu[SPEAKING SPANISH]michael barbaroOK. So Jack, tell me about the second woman that you spent time with in Dallas.jack healyHer name is Suzanne Mitchell. She’s 37. She has three kids. And she had been a home health aide before the pandemic. But since Covid got so bad around Texas, she said she had decided to stop working because she was too concerned about potential health consequences.jack healyIs this the first time you’ve been back since all of it?suzanne mitchellAll of it. I took the chance to come here yesterday to try to get me and my kids some more clothes.jack healyI met her at the Lakeview Townhomes, which is a public housing complex run by the Dallas Housing Authority. And when I went there, Suzanne and her mother had gone back to see what remained of their stuff after their kitchen ceiling opened up.The floor is still wet from when the pipes burst a couple of days ago. Furniture has gotten wet. There is a TV sitting on the floor that just managed to escape getting totally destroyed by the water. And there is a gigantic gaping hole in the kitchen ceiling from where everything poured out a couple of days ago.And as I am sitting down on the couch with Suzanne and her mom to start talking about everything they’ve been through for the past couple of days —speaker 1[INAUDIBLE]speaker 2Oh my gosh.[water flooding]jack healyThe pipes start to gush again.michael barbaroOh my gosh. This house is re-flooding.jack healyIt’s re-flooding.michael barbaroAs you are standing there, talking to them about the first flood.jack healyYeah.jack healyThis is crazy. Do you want to talk upstairs? Do you think that’s a little better?jack healyWater just starts splashing all over Suzanne and her mom. It’s basically turning the place into a gigantic shower.jack healyIs there any damage up here?suzanne mitchellNo, there’s no damage up here.jack healyOK.jack healyAnd so to avoid getting soaked, we headed upstairs to the bedroom of Suzanne’s daughter Shantoria (sp), which luckily had escaped flood damage. And that’s where we did the rest of the interview.michael barbaroSo what kind of mood are Suzanne and her mother in upstairs in this bedroom, given everything that has happened and is just now happening to them?jack healyExhausted, a little defeated. The family had been living at Suzanne’s mom’s apartment for the past couple of days. But they were sleeping on air mattresses and couches, kind of putting kids at right angles with each other to try to make more room. And it was really starting to get stressful.suzanne mitchellAnd my main concern is my place for me and my kids. Like, the clothes, they can be replaceable. But my place, you know.jack healyYeah.suzanne mitchellAnd my kids, like, for school, you know, while school’s out.[music]michael barbaroAnd Jack, what were you thinking as you left Suzanne’s apartment?jack healyI guess I was thinking about how precious home has become during this pandemic. You know, to so many of us, our houses are the places that are kind of our castles. They’re our refuges against this disease that can find us anywhere.And for these people who had spent so much money saving up to buy their houses, or who had spent years on a waitlist to get a nice townhome in a public complex — to be put out of their homes not only dislocated them, but it also made them all the more vulnerable to this virus that is haunting us at every corner. And I think that just compounded the sense of loss and the sense of dislocation and uncertainty of what comes next.suzanne mitchellIt’s like, at this moment, there is no help. It’s like, I’m not getting [INAUDIBLE] still, like, at a standstill. So it’s, like, really frustrating. I’m just ready to be home.[music]michael barbaroWe’ll be right back.jack healyIs it OK if I record this just to —tumaini crissYeah, that’s fine.jack healyOK.michael barbaroSo Jack, tell me about the third woman that you spent time with in Dallas.tumaini crissMy name is Tumaini, Tumaini Criss.jack healyWill you spell that, Tumaini?tumaini crissUh-huh. Tango, uniform, Mike, alpha, indigo.jack healyWell, her name is Tumaini Criss.jack healyWere you in the military?tumaini crissNo.jack healyHow did you learn the language of the —tumaini crissI was in ROTC like from grade school, middle school and high school.jack healyOh, OK.jack healyAnd I didn’t meet her at a home or flooded out apartment. I met her in seat 52 of a charter bus that had been parked by a recreation center as an emergency warming shelter for families displaced by the outages and the storm.michael barbaroSo she’s living on a bus?jack healyYeah. Because remember, Michael, the power was so unreliable at the places we would normally use as shelters, like churches or rec centers or things like that, that in order to get to people in need in neighborhoods across Dallas, they just sent out buses. And so for a couple nights, as many as 20 people or 30 people had been sleeping on this bus. And it was Tumaini and her three boys.tumaini crissThey’re boys, so they’re into games. They like basketball. They like video games.jack healyThey are this incredibly close, tight-knit family. And for Tumaini, her boys are everything. They are the reason that she works three jobs. They are the reason that she is saving up every dollar she can to try to get enough money together for a down payment for a home for the four of them. And they were basically driven out of their house by the cold and then by a burst pipe. So that bus had become their home.michael barbaroSo just like Iris and just like Suzanne, she experiences a frozen pipe that bursts and destroys her home.jack healyExactly. What happened was they had been dislocated by the cold, like so many Texans. They had been driving around, trying to stay warm in their car. And as they were sitting there in their car, just outside their home, one of Tumaini’s sons noticed that the Wi-Fi signal from their house was back on.tumaini’s sonYeah. Like, he was on the computer. And I noticed our home Wi-Fi was on.jack healyOh.tumaini’s sonSo that made me think that the power was on.tumaini crissWe jumped out that car so quick. I was like, come on.jack healyIt was sort of like the skies parted and choirs sang for the family. And so they ran back inside, and Tumaini made a beeline towards the refrigerator, where she had just spent $250 on a load of food. And she just started cooking.tumaini crissJust kind of make whatever we could that would last us until the power came on.jack healyYeah. Yeah.tumaini crissAnd then maybe 10, 15 minutes into us preparing food, that’s when the leak started.jack healyAnd then the ceiling opened up.tumaini crissWe were grabbing blankets and buckets. And then I realized, oh no, it’s coming out the light jack. And then I realized, oh no, it’s coming from the living room. So all of a sudden, it’s like water leaking everywhere on everything.jack healyAnd so they just grabbed what few possessions they could to try to salvage from this waterfall that’s filling their home, and they left again. And I met them a couple of nights later, sitting on the bus.michael barbaroSo they were able to take some items from the house and save them, it sounds like. But how much did they end up losing?jack healyI mean, a lot.jack healyI bet like the couch is probably gone.tumaini crissOh, yeah. The couch, all of the appliances in the kitchen.jack healyAs we were talking, she was sort of doing an inventory of what had survived and what hadn’t. And most of their kitchen was gone.tumaini crissAll my children’s belongings, and then, like, my washer, my dryer, my deep freezer. Oh my God, my air fryer.jack healyA lot of their furniture had been destroyed. And really, she didn’t even know the full extent of the damage because it really was just so bad and so pervasive.michael barbaroJack, what did she say about insurance or lack of insurance? What kind of financial situation is she now in?jack healyLike hundreds of thousands of people across Texas, especially lower income people and renters, she does not have any. She had renter’s insurance, but unfortunately, she had let it lapse. And so now she is facing the prospect of having to replace all of this stuff on her own. She has applied for federal disaster aid, but that is the start of a very long process. And it’s uncertain when an inspector is going to come out, when a check might be cut. Recovering from a disaster financially takes years.michael barbaroSo how does your time with this family come to an end?jack healyWell, so as they were kind of getting ready for another night there, another night of watching movies, and Tumaini was getting ready for another night of trying to figure out how to go to sleep without the seat-belt digging into her back, a woman who had been helping out came up to the family with a little piece of good news.speakerWe actually have secured a room for you guys for tonight.tumaini crissAre you serious? Don’t play. Don’t play with my emotions. For real?jack healyThat they had found a hotel for them.tumaini crissI don’t smell it.speakerAnd I’ll smell it when they hit you. I’ll smell it and I’ll try not to cry.tumaini crissI feel like I hit the lotto. Oh my God, seriously?speakerHave I lied to you so far? Three days, have I lied to you?tumaini crissNo.jack healyIt was the first time in days that they would have slept on an actual bed.tumaini crissI am literally so grateful. I am so grateful.speakerSo you’ll be there tonight. When you guys come back tomorrow, we’ll have some hot meals. And we’ll tackle another day and just kind of figure it out. We’ll just keep on, day by day. We in this together, ma’am.[music]michael barbaroJack, in conversations with people like Tumaini, Iris and Suzanne, who do they blame for the situation that they are now in? I mean, their stories are strikingly similar. Infrastructure that failed, pipes that burst, homes that were really badly damaged, if not destroyed. Who do they blame for that?jack healyYou know, the state right now is going through this process of accountability, in terms of asking the power companies and regulators and grid operators what went wrong, and what they’ll do to fix it. But these are enormous political questions.And for Iris and Suzanne and Tumaini, there are more pressing matters at hand, which is, where are my kids going to sleep? How are they going to get to school? How am I going to replace the groceries that got ruined? How am I going to move forward with my life? And that’s what they were most focused on.michael barbaroJack, what you are describing in Texas is not just a winter storm. It’s not just an energy crisis. It is those things, but it’s not just those things. It is clearly a story of disparity. Right? It’s a kind of social X-ray that shows how fragile life is for these women.jack healyWe spent the last year talking about how this pandemic has inflicted a disproportionate toll on lower income people and on communities of color. And the same exact thing happened again when the lights went off across Texas.I was talking to one city councilman, who in describing the West Dallas neighborhood where Tumaini was on that bus that night, he said, these neighborhoods, which are predominantly Black and Hispanic, these neighborhoods are the first to lose power and they’re the last to get it on. They’re the hardest to get hit and the last to recover. And I think for these women, that’s what they’re really concerned about, whether that pattern is going to play out yet again and sort of drag them farther back and push their dreams even farther out across the horizon.[music]michael barbaroJack, thank you very much. We appreciate it.jack healyThank you so much, Michael.jack healyDo you — I don’t know. Does it feel kind of like a little bit unfair that some people get to go home, or their power’s on, or that they didn’t get sorted out?tumaini’s sonYeah, but life is unfair.jack healyYeah. What do you mean?tumaini’s sonLike, stuff doesn’t always go your way.[music]michael barbaroWhen we come back, Jack gets an update from Tumaini and Iris.[phone ringing]jack healyHi. Tumaini? Are you there?tumaini crissI’m good. How about you?jack healyI’m good. I’m really good. It’s great to hear your voice again after such a long time.tumaini crissI know. Yes. It’s great to hear your voice.jack healyWe spoke a little bit after Dallas, but the last time I actually saw you it was on that bus, where you and your boys had sort of taken refuge, and you guys were about to get moved to a hotel. And I mean, how did you actually end up going back to your apartment? Like, what happened afterwards?tumaini crissWell, so funny thing is we actually didn’t go back. So during the storm, downstairs was flooded. So there was mold growing like through the walls in the bathroom. But when they pulled up the floor, it was on the tiles. It was everywhere.And so we called the manager of our complex, and we had them come out and do a walkthrough. They brought the city out. And when they walked through the entire complex, it was like the damage was so significant that they just had to relocate everybody.jack healyWow.tumaini crissI think they said it may take maybe a year or two to get it back up to code, or to get it habitable. But yeah, we had to go.jack healyWas it difficult to find places after the storm? Did you get the sense that a lot of people were like, you know, looking for housing and that sort of thing?tumaini crissOh my gosh, yes. It was virtually impossible. I ended up speaking to my job, and they let me off for two weeks so I could be able to go see properties, and just kind of relocate. So it was really, really, really, really hard.jack healyOh, wow.tumaini crissLike, from 7 in the morning to like 7 at night, I was calling people nonstop. I think I probably went to maybe about 30 different properties. But I know I called at least 100 different landlords.jack healyOh my gosh.tumaini crissIt was really, really bad.jack healyAnd are you in an apartment or a townhouse? Or what kind of a place is it?tumaini crissNo, it’s a house. It’s about an hour away from where I was living. It’s in a little city called Little Elm. And we love it. Obviously, it’s far away from anybody we know. But you know, we’re just starting over, and it’s working out wonderfully for us.jack healyYou had mentioned that you were applying for some disaster relief money through FEMA. What happened with that?tumaini crissSo FEMA, we did the inspection. And then they gave me like $1,100 that they said, I guess that’s what everything was worth.jack healyThat made you whole? Or was that a lot less than the damage that you suffered?tumaini crissI mean, it was a lot less because I literally lost pretty much everything. But I mean, you know, what can you do?jack healyWow. It really does sound like in some ways you’re kind of starting from scratch, all of you guys. How are the boys doing? And how has this year been for them?tumaini crissSo like, initially when we moved across they were really, really happy about having a room again and having a bed. But then they were sad because they missed all their friends. But once the summer got here — we have a pool in our community. And so we would go to the pool, and we would go to the park, and they would meet other people. So they’re adjusting really well.jack healyHow do you think that this year and everything you’ve been through, getting basically dislocated from your house and all the changes, how do you feel like it’s changed you?tumaini crissSo this year, it’s just really made me feel grateful. Like, it just really put into perspective that you don’t need a lot of material things. Like, at the end of the day, family, health and happiness is all that you need. And then at a blink of the moment, life can change.jack healyYeah.tumaini crissYou know, sometimes late at night, I’ll stay up wondering what if, or if I could have done anything differently. Of course now, you know, I have insurance. So if something does happen, I’d be covered that way. And then I know how to plan for the worst now. So yeah. At the end of the day, you just have to I guess roll with the punches.jack healyYeah. No, absolutely. Well listen, thank you so much for taking some time today. And I just wish you guys all the best of luck, and good things with the new transition. And please tell your boys I say hello.tumaini crissOK. Thank you, Jack. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the follow-up. I hope you guys have a happy holidays.jack healyMerry Christmas. Thank you so much.tumaini crissThank you. Bye bye.jack healyBye bye.[music]iris cantuHello?jack healyHi. Iris?iris cantuYes.jack healy[SPEAKING SPANISH] Happy holidays. So the last time we talked, we were sitting in your living room with that enormous hole in the ceiling. And you were wondering about whether the house was safe for your daughter, and how long it was going to take for you to fix it. What has happened since?iris cantuWell, we did not fix the house at the time. We barely fixed it a couple of weeks ago.jack healyOh my goodness. Wow.iris cantuYeah. It got fixed the last week of November. So they finished on December the 5th. Even we had to leave the house for almost three weeks, where they were working in the construction.jack healyOh, wow. Where did you go?iris cantuWe went to a hotel close to the house, like five minutes from the house. It was not a good time for us to stay there while they were working on it.jack healyYeah. That must have been kind of hard.iris cantuYeah.jack healyWhen you were waiting to make the repairs, did you just live in the house with the plastic over the ceiling?iris cantuYeah, we stayed there. But we try to stay like in the Samara’s room or my room, and just come to the kitchen and go back over there. Yeah.jack healyYeah. Yeah.iris cantuWe tried not to stay in the living room because all that dust.jack healyDo you think that time kind of made her asthma worse? Or was it stressful for Samara.iris cantuI was worried about her because I knew all the dust from the attic, it was coming down to the living room. I knew it. I could tell. So I was like cleaning every day, sweeping, mopping, to keep the area clean for her. But yeah, her asthma has not been stable, especially this season. So she’s on an inhaler right now. They gave her an inhaler. Yeah.jack healyWow. So like, the storm only lasted a couple of days, but it sounds like you were just dealing with the aftermath for months.iris cantuYeah. It did. Yeah.jack healyWhen we first talked, you said you thought it was going to end up costing $6,000 or $7,000 or so. How much was the total bill for all the repairs and the rebuilding?iris cantuIt was $12,000.jack healyWow. Wow.iris cantuYes. I got help from people. Yeah, a lady that hear my story, and she helped me with $5,000.jack healyWow.iris cantuYeah, I used all that money to fix the house. And then I save a little more because it was needing more money. So that’s why I had to wait all this time. So I was waiting for it, and we did it.jack healyWhat does the house look like now? Are you feeling good about being back, and about the work finally being done?iris cantuI’m so excited because it looks different. And everything’s new, like the floor, the wall, the paint. All the insulation in the attic got wet, so they removed that old insulation. We got a new insulated house now.jack healyYeah. How concerned are you about this winter? I mean, do you kind of have a worry that this might happen all over again?iris cantuI know. I hear the other day like kind of a story on the news. Like, are we ready for — I was like, oh no. I was so worried about — because everything came to my mind.jack healyYeah.iris cantuLike, what happened to us. I was like, oh, I’ll pray to God this is not going to happen. We’re not going to have a cold storm this year. But I’m putting effort all my life to keep going and being positive because of my daughter. My daughter is my life.When we had to go to the hotel, I had to explain everything to her, that we were going to leave the house for three weeks. And she was like, why? You know, she’s 3 and 1/2, so they ask everything. Why? They want to know everything. So I was like, we have to go. They’re going to fix the house. So when we got back in December the 5th, and we come in the house, she was so excited. I could see her smile. Like, mommy, we got a new house.jack healyThat’s great. That’s really great. Well, Iris, I’m so glad you’re back in the house. I’m glad that you can feel comfortable again and let Samara play in the living room, and hang out with her toys and feel safe there.iris cantuThank you so much, Jack.jack healyAll right. All right. Thank you, and have a great day, and have a great Christmas.iris cantuHave a great Christmas. God bless you, Jack. Bye bye.jack healyYou too. Bye bye.iris cantuBye bye.michael barbaroToday’s episode was produced by Sydney Harper, Michael Symon Johnson, and Diana Nguyen with help from Mooj Zadie. It was edited by Lisa Chow, Anita Badejo and Marc Georges, and engineered by Corey Schreppel.The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Austin Mitchell, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guillemette, Robert Jimison, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Kaitlin Roberts, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Anita Badejo, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Chelsea Daniel, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens and Rowan Niemisto.Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Cliff Levy, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Sofia Milan, Desiree Ibekwe, Erica Futterman, Wendy Dorr, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda and Maddie Masiello.That’s it for The Daily. I’m Michael Barbaro. Thank you for listening this past year, and happy new year.We’ll see you on Monday in 2022.