To those of you who saw the video from the www.wlbt.com web site, this
will come as noe surprise: All Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos are
closed until further notice. Some will not reopen for many months.
All of the casinos suffered significant damage; some were, for all
intents and purposes, destroyed. Here's a rundown, with all references
to the casino barges/vessels:
* Grand Gulfport broke in two. The smalller piece ended up on Beach
Blvd., about 200 yards or so west of its normal berth.
* Copa was pushed up on land, and came to rest not far from the Grand
Gulfport's parking garage.
* Preisdent was blown across the road, and came to rest on top of a
Holiday Inn. (This casino was recently sold, and in the process of
relocating elsewhere on the coast.)
* Treasure Bay's boat -- the only so-called "riverboat casino" that
actually is on a boat -- was beached and severely damaged.
* Beau Rivage appears to be the least damaged of the beachfront boats.
Iy suffered water damage up to he third floor from the storm surge.
Gut the gaming vessel appears to be intact at first glance.
* Hard Rock (scheduled to open in the next week or so) was heavily
damaged throughout, and will likely have to be torn down and rebuilt.
The signature guitar sign survived remarkably well.
* Grand Biloxi's gaming vessel was swept across the street entirely.
It is likely a total loss. Support buildings seem to have had les damage.
* Casino Magic's gaming barge looks to have partially sunk within its
berth.
* Isle of Capri suffered much the same fate as Casino Magic.
* Back Bay (Imperial Palace, Boomtown, New Palace) casinos all
suffered damage, but not nearly to the point of the beach resorts.
This isn't confirmed, though, as news crews tended to focus on the
spectacles of large beachfront casino barges blown far from their
regular berths.
* Casino Magic/Bay St. Louis: Undetermined as of yet.
Casinos in Vicksburg closed briefly. They appeared to suffer no damage
to speak of. Pearl River Resort near Philadelphia was unscathed, and
now home to many evacuees.
The U.S. 90 bridges from Biloxi's Point Cadet to Ocean Springs, and
near Bay St. Louis, were destroyed. The I-110 bridge apparently
sustained major damage. The main way our of the entire area is now
U.S. 49 from Gulfport.
The damage between the beach and the CSX railroad line is devastating.
Most of the buildings north of Casino Row in Biloxi were flattened.
Beauvoir, the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, was
destroyed. Most of the motels and hotels along Beach Blvd. are simply
wiped out.
The Biloxi-Gulfport area will take years to rebuild. The only truly
silver lining is the fact that the state legislators may be compelled
to let casinos be built totally on land now.