20 years after Katrina and Rita

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 Entergy’s 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 Entergy’s service area.

For the last 20 years following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we’ve powered a more resilient future and remain steadfast in our commitment to you. 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 – so that the beloved places we call home are stronger than ever before.

Just like you, we live and work in the same communities – we drive the same roads, go to the same parades and battle the same weather. We couldn’t be prouder to call this place home.

Our stories of preparation, perseverance and resilience

Restoring more than power

Over the last two decades, Entergy shareholders have invested $95 million in philanthropic support, and our employees have completed 1.6 million hours of volunteer service across our four-state service area.
Following Katrina and Rita, Entergy was there from the start, bringing hard-hit communities back from devastation. Thousands of our team members worked despite their own loss, many for months at a time, until the last lights were on after the back-to-back storms. Caring for our customers — giving back and empowering them — became the heart of our mission around restoration efforts.

  • Power of Hope: Entergy shareholders launched the Power of Hope fund just 48 hours after Katrina made landfall with an initial $1 million donation. Another $600,000 poured in after Hurricane Rita struck.
  • Economic support: In partnership with the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Entergy shareholders helped create the post-Katrina Individual Development Account program – a 4:1 savings match for low-income households. Since 2005, more than 600 families have participated in the program, generating more than $58 million in assets including home purchases – 400 families becoming first-time homeowners, small businesses created and education savings.
  • Affordable housing rebuilds: With partner organizations, we helped build or rebuild 1,300 homes for low and moderate-income families in the Greater New Orleans area post-Katrina.
  • Investing in education: From 2005 to 2025, Entergy and the Entergy Charitable Foundation have invested more than $30 million to support education in Orleans Parish, impacting the lives of more than 100,000 students.
  • Childcare collaborations: Katrina destroyed 75% of childcare centers in Orleans Parish. Entergy and partners supported collaboratives and advocacy efforts that culminated in $42 million in annual funding from municipal and state resources to provide early care and education for low-income families in New Orleans.
  • Investing in a cleaner, more resilient tomorrow: We partnered with the Nike Corporation and Louisiana Green Building Council to create the Entergy Solar Schools Initiative, installing solar panels on five New Orleans public schools. We helped create 130-plus miles of bike lanes and walkways across New Orleans. And since 2005, Entergy has awarded almost $800,000 in grants and helped our partners plant and or distribute almost 100,000 trees.

Rebuilding even stronger than before

Building a resilient grid is what we do. It’s been part of our business for decades. When it comes to grid resilience, it’s not only the strength of the system, but also how quickly we recover and restore power to our customers following severe weather, that’s important.

We’ve seen first-hand what hardened infrastructure can do with a recent example pointing to Hurricane Ida, where a major transmission line was struck down in the Greater New Orleans area. Entergy rebuilt the Mississippi River transmission crossing from Avondale to Harahan, Louisiana. The tower was placed in service on Aug. 17, 2022 – less than one year from when Hurricane Ida made landfall on Aug. 29, 2021. This power line segment, which includes a large tower on both sides of the river, was upgraded to withstand winds of up to 175 mph. Each tower stands around 475 feet tall and weighs approximately 658,000 pounds.