This year marks the 20th anniversary of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Katrina, one of the worst, deadliest and most costly natural disasters to ever hit our service area, slammed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005. Much of the Gulf Coast lay ravaged by wind and water, and New Orleans was largely submerged.

Twenty-six days after Katrina, with the state of Louisiana still reeling, Hurricane Rita made landfall near the mouth of the Sabine River at the Louisiana-Texas border. These storms left 1.9 million of our 2.7 million customers without power, with Katrina affecting 37,000 square miles, roughly one-third of our service area.

For the last 20 years following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we’ve powered a more resilient future and remained steadfast in our commitment to you — our customers and communities. We’re stronger today because of where we’ve been. And we’ll continue to invest in our shared communities, our people and our grid. We couldn’t be prouder to call this home.

Honoring the 20-year anniversary through service

Over the last two decades, our employees have dedicated 1.6 million hours of volunteer service across our four-state service area.

In remembrance of the 2005 hurricane season, Entergy is holding a day of service on Aug. 29 in partnership with Rebuilding Together. Employee volunteers will focus on home repairs and energy efficiency upgrades to five homes in the New Orleans area. This initiative not only honors our commitment to the community but also revitalizes homes that represent the heart of our neighborhoods.

This week, our New Orleans-area employees will also join Green Light New Orleans to commemorate the anniversary. Volunteers will be delivering and installing approximately 20 rain barrels to local homeowners in flood-prone neighborhoods.

Watch Episode 1: During the storm

In the month ahead, we’ll share some of these stories of reflection, resilience, preparation and perseverance through a series of videos. Watch our first video release that captures Entergy team members recounting their experiences from 2005.