She drove 275 miles to Dallas, unable to convince her mother-in-law, a woman watching eight grandkids, to follow.

Rakeitha Garner-Bean and her husband, Jeffery, found refuge in Dallas, but found no peace knowing the matriarch of their family was at 1711 James Bowie Drive, on a pacemaker, surrounded by water.

"We went for days not knowing if she would be safe in Baytown," Garner-Bean said in an interview Tuesday. "We tried to get boats from the Cajun Navy to save her, nothing worked."

Family members took all they could to the Walnut Hill Rec Center, home to 300 others from as far as Corpus Christi. Five days after settling north, hope arrived from Baytown.

"They got her!" Garner-Bean shouted. "She's in the gym of the Cedar Bayou Baptist Church back home."

But as the deluge divided families, a new challenge surfaced for Rakeitha and her husband, a challenge shared among thousands across the state.

"Now, we just have to get her here."

Busses expected Tuesday morning were delayed, with freeways along the Gulf Coast still impassible. Officials at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center said the mega-shelter was barely filled into the afternoon, with around 100 in a space capable of receiving 5,000 people.

But in a dozen interviews at Walnut Hill Rec Center, a shelter filled to capacity, families said that a new outlook has now emerged - Dallas could soon become home.

The moment echoed scenes from Hurricane Katrina, when families reunited in Houston and remained in the Bayou City, abandoning neighborhoods they once knew for generations.

"We probably have nothing back in Baytown," said Calvin Isaac, as he clutched his nine-month-old son. "My girlfriend is delivering a baby girl next month. I'm not sure if we can go back to our old home, to the wreckage."

Residents of the Red Cross shelter began to walk around the surrounding neighborhoods, envisioning homes of their own. Good Shepherd Episcopal School, a short drive from the cots and portable showers, started allowing students from the shelter to enroll - with no questions asked.

"The schools are good here, the jobs are good, and I believe God makes everything happen for a reason," Isaac said. "This may be my reason."

The bus from Good Shepherd dropped off about a dozen students at Walnut Hill just after 3 p.m., kids beaming with bulky backpacks and sounds of shouting echoing across the packed parking lot.

Parents lifted their kids up into the air, as if nothing had changed.

"Welcome home," a volunteer said to a family of four, lunch boxes, stuffed animals, and homework in tow. "Let's get inside and get started so you can go back tomorrow."

Photos: Catastrophic flooding across Houston area 610 at Market Street suffers major flooding. Waugh Drive under water. A truck drives through flooded waters in Bellaire. Street flooding in southwest Houston. Flooding rains in Bellaire. A boat dock is submerged as a nearby flood gauge registers at six feet. A possible tornado destroyed this house on Blessing Street in Matagorda County. A submerged SUV at George Bush Park. A White Oak Bayou retention pond at Hollister and West Little York was nearing capacity Aug. 27. Strong winds knocked down this basketball goal and pouring rain flooded streets. Flooding in Mar Bella near Hwy 96 and 146. Flooded streets in Richmond. Flooding on the San Jacinto River. Flooded backyards in Lake Shore Harbour in Missouri City. Flooded streets in Bellaire. White Oak Bayou at T.C. Jester at noon on Aug. 27. A KHOU 11 viewer says the man in this kayak was attempting a rescue in Meyerland Flooded cars in an apartment parking lot in Greenspoint. Flooding between 249 and Spring Cypress in northwest Harris County. An aeiral view of the Brazos River in Richmond. Major street flooding in the Copper Creek subdivision in northwest Houston. A bayou about to be out of its banks behind the Walmart at Hwy 290 and Tidwell. Major rains caused street flooding and flooded homes in Bayou Vista. Heavy rains caused major street flooding and flooded homes in Bayou Vista. Flooding at Voss and Del Monte. A swollen Colorado River in Columbus. Flooding at Voss Road north of Westheimer and south of San Felipe. The Bering Ditch at Briarwood and Westheimer. Flooded feeder roads at Beltway 8 and I-10. Pouring rain in League City. Heavy rains have caused street flooding in Bayou Vista. Neighborhoods near White Oak Bayou are flooding since it came out if its banks. Heavy rains have caused major street flooding in Bayou Vista. Heavy rains have caused major street flooding in Bayou Vista. A car is submerged in a ditch near Ventana Lakes off Clay Road in Katy. Cars flooded in Meyerland. A West University Place response vehicle helps a stalled driver at the corner of Rice Boulevard and Kirby. Flooding in LIncoln Green East. Flooding at the Nob Hill apartments off Braeswood. Flooding in the Northern Point subdivision in Tomball. Flooding along White Oak Bayou at Ella and T.C. Jester. Flooding in Dickinson. Flooding in Meadows Place. A collapsed roof at the Uvalde apartments. The EA Smith YMCA parking lot. Flooding along the bayou at Cartwright Road in Missouri City. Flooding at the Nob Hill Apartments off North Braeswood. Flooding at apartments off Worthington at Beltway 8 in Greenspoint. A KHOU 11 viewer says all their family could do was watch pre-recorded Ghostbusters while floodwaters came into their house. Flooding at Allen Parkway at Studemont near Buffalo Bayou. A kayaker in Friendswood. Flooding at the Nob Hill apartments off North Braeswood. Waist-high water in the Bayou Place neighborhood. An SUV attempted to pass through floodwaters at Houston Ave. and Washington near downtown. A viewer reports the SUV didn't see the severe drop. A view of Buffalo Bayou from the Studemont bridge. Buffalo Bayou overcame its banks and flooded Allen Parkway. White Oak Bayou cresting over its banks. A field mouse runs from floodwater. Flooding along West Werrington Way in north Houston. Sims Bayou at the top of its banks. Flooding in the 5200 block of North Braeswood in southwest Houston. KHOU 11 reporter Brandi Smith and photographer Mario Sandoval helped rescue the driver of this off Beltway 8 and the Hardy Toll Road. Flooding in Hitchcock, Texas. Flooding in Clear Lake Shores. A vehicle underwater at I-45 and Little York. Flooding in the Bella Vista neighborhood in Cleveland. Flooding in the Bella Vista neighborhood in Cleveland. A flood home and car near North Wayside and 610.

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