The heroism with which Houston has responded to the influx of thousands of refugees from Hurricane Katrina has given me a new pride in being a Houstonian. Moreover, its remarkable blending of efficiency and compassion has given the rest of the country a model of how to respond to large-scale civil emergencies.

Initially, Houston was told to expect 2,000 hurricane victims. But then, at 3 A.M. on August 31, the city was told that over 23,000 evacuees would begin streaming into Houston that very night. Could Houston receive them?

It could -- and it did.

In just 19 hours, local government agencies, businesses and charities pulled out all the stops. Working frantically against the clock, they turned the vacant Reliant Astrodome into a mammoth refugee center, complete with beds, showers, hot food and even cable TV. As the first busloads of hungry, filthy and exhausted refugees rolled up at around 10:00 that night, Houston was ready to meet their most pressing needs.

The response of ordinary Houstonians was scarcely less awe-inspiring. Donations of clothes, toys and books poured in at such a rate to the Salvation Army, Star of Hope and other charities that after just a few days they were glutted. Star of Hope, which had filled five warehouses to bursting, finally had to ask the public to stop giving long enough to let volunteers sort through what had already been donated.

Houston’s churches marshaled swarms of Good Samaritans to minister to the evacuees. Even staid Episcopalians like myself answered the call with tent-revival enthusiasm. My own parish church, Palmer Memorial, has lately been providing as many as a thousand hot meals a night to Katrina’s victims.

In all, America’s fourth-largest city has set a real example for the rest of the nation. Houston, my hat – er, my Stetson – is off to you. The experience of the last couple of weeks has done more to turn me into a Texan than my nearly four years of residence here.