Wednesday, August 30, 2006

As reported by Reuters: "The clean-up is mostly complete and business is
brisk at the beachfront casinos, but a year after the devastation wrought by
Hurricane Katrina, Biloxi is still struggling to get back on its feet. "...A
year of uncertainty over new building codes and the anaemic local economy
have prompted long-time residents to considering leaving the city,
especially since government funds to help rebuild houses have only trickled
in. "...Most of the pre-storm population of about 50,000 has returned, city
officials aid, and the state government has recently begun distributing
federal funds to rebuild homes. "...Mississippi loosened casino restrictions
in the aftermath of Katrina, allowing more land-based facilities to help
replace revenues lost when the storm ravaged the giant floating gambling
barges that once dotted the coast.
"Tax receipts from the casinos, which contributed more than a third of
Biloxi's $50 million in annual revenues, have rebounded to pre-storm levels
in recent weeks, and the city is hoping to more than double the number of
gambling houses to 20 facilities in the next decade.

"More important are the 15,000 jobs the casinos generated before the storm.
Nearly 10,000 of those jobs have returned, and the re-opening of the Beau
Rivage scheduled for the August 29 anniversary of Katrina will add more than
1,000 to that..."

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