Word: mississippis
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...along the Gulf Coast, construction is driving the post-Katrina economic recovery, but the biggest and boldest bets in Mississippi are on gambling. Eight casinos are now open for business compared to 12 prior to Katrina, with more than 50,000 people employed either directly or in a support role. "By the end of this calendar year, the numbers will be pretty much where they were before Katrina," boasts Jerry St. P?, head of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. The gaming haul has certainly helped the revival. In January, the three casinos up and running reported astonishing revenues - 65% of what...
...Immediately after Katrina, the odds on Mississippi's recovering at the gaming tables didn't look so good. Two days after the hurricane, St. P? flew along the Mississippi coastline, surveying the devastation. Casino barges had been tossed ashore like toys, wrecking everything in their path - historic landmarks, businesses and homes. Buildings on the eastern end of Biloxi known as The Point, an area where immigrant fishermen settled in early 20th century when the city was known as the seafood capital of the world, were leveled. St. P?'s biggest fear was that the casinos, approved by the Mississippi Legislature...
...week after Katrina, St. P? flew to Las Vegas to meet with casino industry leaders, not expecting much, he admits. To his surprise, casino leaders felt differently. "The message I heard was that while the hurricane had inflicted tremendous physical damage, the major elements that had made Mississippi attractive for the entertainment and casino industry were still there," he says. But basing casinos on the water was looking like a bad bet, so the state moved quickly. In October, a special session of the Mississippi Legislature changed state laws to permit casinos to move 800 ft. inland, opening...
...told, 400,000 people fled or were evacuated out of the city of New Orleans, where the current population is still half the pre-Katrina level. Taking in those who also left Mississippi, Alabama and other regions of Louisiana, 1.5 million people have applied for FEMA relocation assistance, according to the Appleseed study...
...same time, Mississippi has helped coastal towns develop creative plans for rebuilding more intelligently. New Orleans, however, still has no central agency or person in charge of rebuilding. The city's planning office is down to nine people, from 24 before Katrina, and it really needs 65, according to the American Planning Association. And the imperative to rebuild the wetlands that protect against storms, much discussed in the weeks after Katrina and just as important as the levees, gets less attention every day. Worst of all, Mayor Ray Nagin and the city council are still not talking honestly about...