It was a year ago this week when Hurricane Katrina first made landfall, decimating large portions of the Gulf Coast area in her wake. Only a few short weeks later Hurricane Rita followed suit, further destroying homes, lives, and businesses. It is hard enough to recapture the feeling of terror I felt (way up here in Canada, even) sitting on my couch watching the news unfold on CNN, I can't even begin to imagine how much worse it would have been for anyone who was directly involved or affected by the storms.

Though we all were wrapped up in the news and reports about the entire situation, being a gaming site our focus was naturally on discussing the aftermath and effect Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had on the casino industry in Louisiana and Mississippi. Was that really a full year ago? Tempus Fugit, as they say. Thinking of all this again, I began to wonder what happened to all the casinos - we have had various reports here and there, but never a full listing. So, following is a recap of the tragedy, as well as some information on the casinos today.

When the Hurricanes first made landfall, displacing many gambling barges hundreds of yards from sea to shore, it was impossible at first to determine the amount of damage caused and what it would take to repair them. When the numbers started trickling in, it was beyond comprehension. As Derek wrote last August 31:

"Harrah's Entertainment has the highest exposure down south. They have nine casinos that are in the path of the hurricane. Analysts expect Harrah's to lose almost $2.5 million in revenue for each day its casinos remain closed. MGM Mirage has two casinos in Mississippi and they're expected to lose about $1.1 million in revenue each day. To make matters worse, the state of Mississippi is losing half a million dollars in tax revenue each day due to the casinos being shut down. Not only are the residents of these towns suffering but so is the economy."

Rather than sitting around waiting for the final damage to be assessed though, people and businesses sprung into action. Many of the online poker rooms held Hurricane relief tournaments including PokerStars, Full Tilt, and Party Poker. Phil Hellmuth hosted a tournament at Ultimate Bet, and our own Wil Wheaton organized relief tournaments at Stars. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised and donated to the Red Cross and other relief organizations, proving once again what an amazing community poker players can be.

So now, a year later, what has become of the many casinos affected by the storms?
Back in October, 2005, it was predicted that the rebuilding and repair of the Beau Rivage in Biloxi could take between 12 and 16 months to complete, as the damage sustained was considered to be among the worst of all casinos affected. The predictions were quite accurate, as the building just reopened mid-August. According to this article:

The casino has 93 table games, 2,100 slots, 38 video poker games and a new poker room with its own bank of safe-deposit boxes for gamblers. The poker room features leather inlay on the walls and onyx flourishes.

"The goal was to really create the most elite and most beautiful card room that the South had ever seen," said Ken Lambert Jr., director of poker operations in Mississippi for MGM Mirage. "We also designed this room for customer service. We didn't go cheap on anything. All the countertops are solid onyx."

The Beau's 1,740 guest rooms and suites have been refurbished and are back open.

Other casinos such as the gambling barge Copa Casino haven't had the same fate though. A message on their website probably says it best:

Due to the tragic and unexpected destruction of Copa Casino as a result of Hurricane Katrina, gaming operations have ceased and the facility is closed for the foreseeable future. Please be assured that we are doing everything in our power to try and reopen Copa Casino as quickly as possible. We regret that we cannot provide a more definite timeline at this point, but the storm has created circumstances that are beyond our control.

The Grand Casino Biloxi was scheduled to host a World Series of Poker Circuit Event last September, which had to be cancelled due to severe damage. They finally reopened just a few short weeks ago, on August 17th. Three other Mississippi casinos reopened over the Christmas holidays in 2005 - the Imperial Palace on December 20, the Isle of Capri Casino on December 26, and the Palace Casino on December 30th.

The Vice President of Marketing for the L'auberge du Lac Casino in Lake Charles, LA stated that their casino received "relatively minor damage" from the storms. (Key word here definitely being "relative".) They did reopen mid-October 2005 however, along with the Grand Coushatta Casino which reopened the same week.

One of Harrah's many properties, Harrah's New Orleans, reopened in February of this year, and they are looking at building another resort in Biloxi according to this press release issued in June.

It was very encouraging when I placed calls to several casinos in the Mississippi and Louisiana area and spoke with various employees. I found in their voices a sense of hope, pride, and accomplishment that I can only imagine wasn't there before. Though many lives were lost through this tragedy, it became evident to me that the people who remain living and working in these areas have become stronger after living through a time of hell.