Mississippi + Casinos + Hurricanes = No Economy

[Ixolib]

About 15,000 out of work for a year!!

http://www.cegltd.com/story.asp?story=5274&headline=Major

[mobilebay]

I'm going down there Saturday Night to play with that one armed man. Wish me luck. PLEASE!

[MGC]

They claimed when they were first built to withstand Cat 3 conditions. Hurricane Georges knocked the Grand in Biloxi out of comission for a couple of weeks. If Ivan had hit 100 miles futher west the industry would still be picking up the pieces.....MGC

[vbhoutex]

They claimed when they were first built to withstand Cat 3 conditions. Hurricane Georges knocked the Grand in Biloxi out of comission for a couple of weeks. If Ivan had hit 100 miles futher west the industry would still be picking up the pieces.....MGC

I understand the allure of the coast-I have lived on the Gulf Coast or near it since 1954. But I do not understand the reasoning of building multimillion dollar gaming casinos directly on the water knowing full well what will happen when(not if)a major hurricane comes knocking. I presume the profits from the years they are "safe" far outweigh the year long shut down a major would bring. And I guess they aren't even thinking about thier workers?

[MGC]

In today's age, employers rarely care for the wellbeing of their employees. Get sick, get fired. I think the Grand did help out after Gerorge though. One good hurricane with no tax revenue, which btw state and local governments have become addicted to, and casinos will be allowed to build on land....MGC

[Agua]

One good hurricane with no tax revenue, which btw state and local governments have become addicted to, and casinos will be allowed to build on land....MGC

That's what they NEED to be planning for NOW. The near miss of Ivan should have shook people up. I know it did me for this precise reason. These casinos are self-insured concerning storm damage. They foot 100% of the bill. This place never recovered from Camille until the casinos came in.

[Ixolib]

They claimed when they were first built to withstand Cat 3 conditions. Hurricane Georges knocked the Grand in Biloxi out of comission for a couple of weeks. If Ivan had hit 100 miles futher west the industry would still be picking up the pieces.....MGC

I understand the allure of the coast-I have lived on the Gulf Coast or near it since 1954. But I do not understand the reasoning of building multimillion dollar gaming casinos directly on the water knowing full well what will happen when(not if)a major hurricane comes knocking. I presume the profits from the years they are "safe" far outweigh the year long shut down a major would bring. And I guess they aren't even thinking about thier workers?

When the legislature originally put the bill to a vote, there was the presumption that if "they didn't work out" they could just float 'em away in a year or so. That was the only way the supporters could get the bill passed with an affirmative vote.

Well, after 12 years - they ARE working, and by now, even if they weren't working, there's no way they can just "float 'em away" - too big, too many add-ons, etc.

The direct revenue to the state is 141M per year and growing, and that doesn't take into account all of the collateral revenue and labor $$ generated as support to their existence. And like MGC said, if Ivan had shifted course by just a few degrees north, thousands would still be out of work today, and when the casinos finally did re-open, it's a pretty good bet that they WOULD be land based then!!

[pojo]

I drove through Biloxi/Gulfport a while back and yes, the casinos are right on the water... and Yes, the water does bring people in. Instead of waiting for cat 4 or cat 5 hurricane to plow through the area, why can't they start preparing for that event.

Ivan came ashore at a decent spot... Florabama... a little more to the west, bulleye on Biloxi/Gulfport... and the Right front squadron dead on hit to Mobile.

[Lindaloo]

pojo, Biloxi has already experienced a CAT 5 cane in 1969. It seems to me that after the devastation they would have voted on land based casinos instead of putting them on the water. Camille should have been all the plan they needed.

[MSRobi911]

After Camille they passed a law that said a structure could not be built on the south side of Highway 90. Then when the casions came to talk they took the law out because they wanted the $'s.

And agreeing with Ixolib and MGC, if Ivan hadn't changed course 50 miles out we would have been in big time trouble. I still can't believe they built the whole Beau Rivage on the site where the Biloxi Bell was and that car dealership. It looks entirely to big to have fit, but I guess it did....hehehe

They (the casinos) were all supose to limit their height and were supposed to be able to pull out and go up river under/thru the span on the bridge between Ocean Springs and Biloxi, but I recently heard that they have been moored so long that there would be no way to get them out of the muck that is holding them in place.

Mary

[Lindaloo]

You are right Mary. And those casinos plus the Biloxi Mayor and council are going to get exactly what they deserve one day.

[pojo]

pojo, Biloxi has already experienced a CAT 5 cane in 1969. It seems to me that after the devastation they would have voted on land based casinos instead of putting them on the water. Camille should have been all the plan they needed.

I'm sorry I forget about Camille. She ransacked that whole entire area!

[Ixolib]

...I still can't believe they built the whole Beau Rivage on the site where the Biloxi Bell was and that car dealership. It looks entirely to big to have fit, but I guess it did....hehehe

Mary

And before the Belle and the dealership, there was the old Bungalow Motel where I learned to swim as a kid! Aaahh... the memories. The Golden Gulf Coast sure ain't what it used to be!!

[Ixolib]

UPDATE - But I'm not convinced that "coffer dams" and "pilings" are going to make much of a difference... No matter how they build 'em, they still have to be on the water and they are really quite fragile structures anyway...

Posted on Sat, Apr. 09, 2005
Governor signs casino protection bill into law

By TOM WILEMON
THE SUN HERALD

BILOXI - Coast casinos can soon take measures to better secure their gambling barges from hurricanes.

Gov. Haley Barbour this week signed a bill into law that allows the construction of permanent structures for the vessels and eliminates the requirement that they have a minium draft of six feet. After July 1, casinos will be able to construct pilings, coffer dams and other engineering devices to protect against storm surges.

The legislation, authored by Rep. Danny Guice, R-Ocean Springs, follows the work of a bipartisan committee composed of elected officials, gambling executives, environmentalists and state regulators. The committee compiled a report that detailed the economic risks posed by hurricanes and suggested engineering options to lessen the vulnerability.

Leonard A. "Len" Blackwell II, who served on the ad hoc committee when he was chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, called the legislation a "common sense bill" although it stopped short of his call for allowing casinos to come aground at their existing locations.

"There were three very persuasive personalities," Blackwell said. "They were Ivan and Isidore and Lily. I feel like their memory spurred some action."

Debates about the inland issue as well as concerns about unintended consequences, such as casino tax increases, caused early hurdles for the committee. Hurricane Ivan brought a sense of urgency to the protection issue.

"Everybody saw the damage that hit Florida," said Bill Walker, the committee's chairman and the director of Marine Resources. "We all thought, 'but for the grace of God there we are.' The casino industry is a very valuable industry that has to have more protection than it currently has."

Casinos are still limited to areas along the Mississippi Sound and along the Mississippi River or its tributaries. The bill expressly states that its provisions "shall not authorize any form of inland gaming."

An early version of the bill would have required the state Gaming Commission to publish a map showing exactly where casinos may be developed along the Gulf Coast. That provision was removed before the bill went to the governor.

[MGC]

Cofferdams will offer little if any protection to a casino barge. If they are put on pilings then the barges would have to be raised 20 feet into the air to avoid the surge and wave action. I'm still not convinced this will save the casino industry here on the coast in the event a major hurricane makes a direct hit here........MGC