Marla Jones Newman remembers the moment the world stopped feeling solid.

It was August of 2005.

She was in a car with her husband and infant daughter and just three days' worth of clothes.

They were fleeing New Orleans and heading for Alabama, away from Hurricane Katrina's projected path.

But we are now hearing the storm has taken an unexpected turn toward the coast.

But then Katrina changed course, and Alabama was no longer safe.

So they pushed on to Atlanta, where they watched images of their city turn from bad to worse.

For months, home became a moving target for Marla and her family.

They moved between Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Mississippi.

They helped relatives gut their homes, strip mold from walls,

all while trying to maintain some kind of normal routine.

But after hearing repeated warnings about air quality and mold dangers in their home city,

Marla drew the line and made a vow that would change their lives.

She told her husband, I'm done with water. I will not deal with water anymore.

So when a job transfer came up for him, the family looked at their options.

They considered Florida or Atlantic City, but decided they had too much coastline.

Then came an opportunity in Littleton, Colorado.

Marla didn't know much about the area, except that it was landlocked, high, and dry.

And that was all she needed to know.

Her family moved there straight away.

20 years later, the events of the summer of 2005

still shape Marla's decision-making.

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