Coasting Along In Mississippi…The “Comeback State”

Here along the Gulf of Mexico we are “almost” breathing a sigh of relief.

The end of the 2013 hurricane season is in sight and we have gotten by unscathed.

This was not the case in 2005---“the year of Katrina.”

The Mississippi coastline now goes by the moniker, “The Resilient Coast” because of the way the towns along the waterfront have rebuilt after TWO of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history, not to mention the 2010 oil spill.

From the 1900s through the late 1960s, the Mississippi Gulf Coast became a tourist destination because it first provided illegal gaming and then later the gaming became legal and the area became a full-resort destination. During those times the coast was referred to as the “Playground of the South.”

That came to a disastrous halt when Hurricane Camille blew ashore on August 17, 1969.

“Camille came in as a category 5 hurricane with 210 miles per hour winds, 10-foot seas and a 24-foot storm surge’ recalled Debbie Raymond, a local resident and guide.

Ironically, the coast never really recovered from that hurricane until 1992, the year that gambling was legalized in Mississippi.

And while gaming brought back tourism and for 20 years it was the coast’s leading industry, Katrina came along in 2005 and took it all away once again.

But, here is where the resilient coast once again became the come-back kid.

The first casinos in 1992 were dock-side riverboats, floating barges designed to look like paddlewheel riverboats.

When Hurricane Katrina, came ashore on August 29, 2005, the storm had only winds of 140 miles per hour, no where as powerful as Camille had been 36 years before. But, what Katrina packed, explained Mrs. Raymond, “was a 34-foot storm surge that totally wiped the entire gulf front of 80 miles across and miles inland.

Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi at the time said, “Ninety percent of the buildings along the coast were destroyed. Homes, restaurants, hotels, museums, schools were all just gone.”

Several of the casino barges were torn off their supports and thrown, some for blocks, others for miles.

And while Katrina was listed as Category 3 storm when it came ashore the destruction was that of a 5. “The storm stayed over land for eight hours. The media focused heavily during Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, Louisiana, 85 miles to the west. But, the eye of the storm actually hit Waveland, which is much closer to Gulfport and Biloxi, therefore the areas to the east (right) of the eye bared the brunt of the storm.

Instead of abandoning the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the casino owners decided to rebuild, this time with the aid of state and local governments. Only this time the casinos were permitted to be rebuilt within the hotels instead of on the water.

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino had been slated to open on the day Katrina arrived.

The largest outdoor PVC guitar in the world had been put in the place in the front of the hotel. It weathered the storm and still sits where it was erected.

The IP Hotel and Casino was the first property to reopen. It was followed by the Isle of Capri.

The Beau Rivage reopened one year to the date that Katrina hit.

At the time of the hurricane the hotel was owned by Las Vegas entrepreneur Steve Wynn. The complex is now part of MGM Resorts.

One of the security guards, who have worked at the Beau Rivage from the beginning, told of how the management paid its employees for the entire time the hotel/resort was closed for rebuilding and repair.

The hurricane put 18,000 people out of work. “The casinos bring much-needed employment to the more than 100,000 people in the Biloxi and Gulfport areas,’ said Mrs. Radford.

There are casinos, such as Boom Town, which operate without a hotel property.

Jimmy Buffett, a Mississippi native and well-known entertainer has a Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi. Mr. Buffett sings about the area in his song, “Down around Biloxi.”

The Palace Hotel and Casino is the first, currently the only hotel/casino complex built since the hurricane to completely ban smoking on site.

After the BP Oil Spill the Mississippi Gulf Coast received more than $31 million dollars from BP America for tourism marketing to once again get the word out that the coast was open for business and tourism, when many people all over this country thought the entire Gulf Coast region was once again destroyed.

That money went to clean the beaches, islands and waters so that ecotourism on the coast was renewed.

The waters of the gulf still provide great shrimp, oysters and salt and freshwater fish.

Taxable hotel sales in 2012 in the coastal counties of Mississippi were 8 % higher than in 2009, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue.

Mrs. Raymond showed us the impressive Hurricane Katrina Memorial located on Beach Boulevard in Biloxi Town Green across from the Hard Rock Hotel. The funding for this memorial was provided by the TV show, Extreme Home Makeover. The height of the memorial equals the depth of the storm surge during the hurricane.

Throughout this green and stretching down the Beach Boulevard, local artist Marlin Miller has carved more than 20 sculptures out of the trunks of large oak trees destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Mississippi and the entire gulf coast are home to many military and veterans families.

Keesler Air Force Base is located right off I-110 near the Beau Rivage.

George Higginbotham, a World War II vet, a Purple Heart recipient and a member of local fishing family paid for and built a Purple Heart Memorial Monument near the waterfront’. Construction is ongoing all along the waterfront in Biloxi. The hotels seem to be adding more amenities.

A new waterfront park is being built, in Point Cadet; a district that prior to the hurricane was a cultural blend of old and new. Now it is mostly new, including a beautiful new Point Cadet Fishing Bridge. In the distance is the U.S. 90 Bridge, with a wide walking lane, which connects Biloxi to Ocean Springs.

What is not coming back so quickly?

Most of the homes and businesses located south of Interstate 10 and those definitely south of the CSX Railway haven’t been rebuilt. Many of those homeowners didn’t have insurance or enough of the right kind of insurance to rebuild. Construction costs now associated with rebuilding according to code are too prohibitive for them. And then again insurance rates have risen.

So along Beach Boulevard (U.S. 90) there are now cleared, but empty lots. Some high rises which have been deemed inhabitable are still awaiting demolition.

Museums, including Beauvoir, Home of Jefferson Davis and Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art are once again open.

There are numerous fishing charters which go out into the Mississippi Sound from Gulfport Harbor, Biloxi Small Craft Harbor and other marinas and piers.

Biloxi boasts of a melting pot of residents. There is a large community of Vietnamese, Slavic/Croatians, French Cajuns and African-Americans, making this area of the Gulf Coast one of the most culturally diverse regions of the South.

As Debbie Raymond pointed out three different churches (serving three different religions) sitting next to each other on one street, she commented, "Several generations of these religious groups have worked together in our local seafood industry for decades.''

In all the churches and temples throughout the town all the members pray for the same thing, “No more hurricanes.”

Locals like Debbie Raymond, watch the pelicans. “They know when a storm is coming.”

For more info: visit online at biloxi.ms.us or 1-800-BILOXI-3 or via e-mail at visitor@biloxi.ms.us

Diane Siskin

dianesiskin@mediacombb.net