Texodus (Texas Exodus)

“Texodus” is a “Texas exodus.” This can mean either an exodus from Texas or to Texas. The term “Texodus” became popular in the fall of 2005, after Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita hit New Orleans and other cities on the Gulf of Mexico. People began a “Texodus” to Texas cities such as Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin.
 
‘Texodus” had been used infrequently before, since at least 1880.
       
   
Wikipedia: Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest hurricane on record that made landfall in the United States. Katrina formed on August 23 during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and caused devastation along much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed, in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland.
 
Wikipedia: Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005. Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.
 
Rita made landfall on September 24 at Johnson’s Bayou, Louisiana, near the Texas-Louisiana border, as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It continued on through parts of southeast Texas. The storm surge caused extensive damage along the Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas coasts and completely destroyed some coastal communities. The storm killed seven people directly; many others died in evacuations and from indirect effects.
       
16 January 1880, Garnett (KS) Plaindealer, pg. 2, col. 4:
THE TEXODUS.
On Friday evening of the last week the M. K. & T. brought to Humboldt the first installment of colored people from Texas, and our city is therefore no longer behind the age in the matter. (...) Humboldt Union.
 
12 November 1984, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), “Column as I see ‘em” by Jonathan Nicholas, pg. B1, col. 1:
THE TEXODUS CONTINUES: Peter Engbretson, a staff aide who played a key role in Commissioner Charles Jordan’s sterling stewardship of Portland parks, is off to Austin, Texas.
 
21 December 1989, Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, AR), “Kestenbaum lures Texans to N.Y.” by Jim O’Connell, pg. 4C, col. 5:
They visited, liked what they saw and started the “texodus” for the borough of Kings.
 
24 December 1995, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, “House Texans’ exit risks clout, GOP inroads” by Ron Hutcheson, pg. A3, col. 1:
WASHINGTON—After years of relative stability, the Texas congressional delegation has been hit with so many retirement announcements that political junkies have coined a word to describe the trend: Texodus.
 
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From: old hoodoo .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 12:24:10 -0500
Local: Mon, Sep 5 2005 1:24 pm
Subject: Texodus
 
Has anyone coined this term yet, the mass migration of poor New Orleanians coming to the promised land?  Seems inevitable.
 
Urban Dictionary
Texodus
The mass evacuation, and the resultant massive traffic jams, in large portions of Texas preceeding the landfall of Hurricane Rita. Many people ran out of fuel and were forced to camp out on the side of major highways and fend for themselves.
Hurricane Rita (the “other” Hurricane) made a last-minute Easterly turn. Bad news for East Texas and West Louisiana. Good news for those camped out on highways further West in Texas.
My friends and I pretty much avoided the Texodus by taking tiny back roads.
by Tom H. Louisiana Sep 24, 2006
 
Dallas (TX) Morning News
August 9, 2019
Texodus: Why are Texas Republicans in Congress bolting for the exits, and what does it mean for 2020?
Written by Tom Benning, Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Four rapid-fire retirement announcements by Texas Republicans in Congress have prompted fresh soul-searching for a political party that’s seeing its decades-long dominance in the Lone Star State start to teeter.
 
While it’s not that unusual for some lawmakers to hit the exits in any given election cycle, the “Texodus” label proffered these days by opportunistic Democrats may have some warrant.