12 years ago Hurricane Rita made us all lose our minds in Houston The worst traffic jam in Houston history began 12 years ago today

PHOTOS: Hurricane Rita's impact on Houston

Galveston Independent School District buses used to evacuate Galveston residents from Hurricane Rita leave Galveston County September 21, 2005, along Interstate 45, just north of League City. President George W. Bush had urged people in the path of powerful Hurricane Rita to heed local authorities' evacuation orders.

See more photos of the mental havoc that Hurricane Rita brought to Texas... less PHOTOS: Hurricane Rita's impact on Houston

Galveston Independent School District buses used to evacuate Galveston residents from Hurricane Rita leave Galveston County September 21, 2005, along Interstate 45, ... more Photo: JAMES NIELSEN, . Photo: JAMES NIELSEN, . Image 1 of / 93 Caption Close 12 years ago Hurricane Rita made us all lose our minds in Houston 1 / 93 Back to Gallery

This week in 2005 many of us in the Houston area were buckling down to bear the brunt of Hurricane Rita.

The aftermath and horror of Hurricane Katrina just weeks before had scared many people in the area into action, with long lines at grocery stores, hardware stores and voluntary evacuations.

RELATED: How Hurricane Rita anxiety led to the worst gridlock in Houston history

Hurricane Rita, a Category 5 monster, was moving toward the Texas Gulf Coast with frightening speed, causing evacuation orders for low-lying areas.

The rush to get out of town and to places to the north and west created horrendous traffic jams as residents from every county in the area clamored to get out of the path of what was predicted to be a damaging hurricane.

People who would have otherwise hunkered down, were scared into taking drastic action. Rita did indeed look terrifying and was headed straight toward Houston with 175 mph winds and worst-case scenario potential.

The worst was possible.

RELATED: Despite 'forgotten' status, Hurricane Rita ravaged southeast Texas

Some 2.5 million people hit the road ahead of the storm’s arrival. The worst day was probably Thursday, Sept. 22, as every conceivable evacuation route was clogged well past capacity.

For example, Texas 146, which travels through Liberty County, dumped 600,000 people into a county with only 70,000 residents, Liberty County Sheriff's Sgt. Ronnie Alexander told the Chronicle at the time.

On other major freeways, frustrated drivers took things into their own hands and drove on the wrong side of the road before authorities designated "contra-flow" lanes to speed things along.

Thousands of people ran out of gas, or their cars overheated from all the inching along, causing many to stop and sleep along the highway.

There were even reports of price gouging by convenience store owners, inundated with customers.

Perhaps the most tragic incident of the monumental evacuation was the death of 24 Bellaire nursing home residents who died when their chartered bus caught fire and exploded about 6:45 a.m. Sept. 23, 2005, on traffic-clogged Interstate 45 near Dallas.

The residents were being evacuated to a sister facility in Dallas in advance of Hurricane Rita, which was still listed as a Category 5 storm when the bus left Bellaire about 3 p.m. Sept. 22.

RELATED: Looking back at the 1900 hurricane that wiped out Galveston 117 years ago

By the time Rita made landfall about 2:40 a.m. Sept. 24, 2005, near Sabine Pass, it had weakened to a Category 3 hurricane.

The storm still did $12 billion in damage, but Katrina did more than $100 billion in damage. A little more than 100 deaths occurred during Rita compared to almost 2,000 during Katrina.

About the worst impact in Houston was some branches down, empty gas stations and a few hours without electricity.

Thousands who evacuated from the Bayou City would have been better off if they had just stayed home, made a batch of margaritas and watched TV.

With additional reporting by Carol Christian