20 years later Hurricane Rita’s devastation still haunts Southeast Texas

BEAUMONT, Texas — Sept. 24 marks two decades since Hurricane Rita slammed into the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, leaving behind destruction that Southeast Texans will never forget.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 24, 2005, Rita struck Southeast Texas and Louisiana, unleashing winds and flooding that caused widespread damage and prolonged power outages. Beaumont was among the hardest hit cities.

“It became a nightmare on all of the roadways,” said Captain Crystal Holmes, who worked on the frontlines during the storm. “You had stranded motorists, you had people running out of gas, you had medical emergencies. Some people were on the road for 48 hours. It was just terrible.”

Holmes, now with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, was working for the Beaumont Police Department at th