As tropical storm Nate grew into a category 1 hurricane, casinos on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast were ordered to close by 5:00 p.m., Saturday, October 7 to prepare and wait it out. The shutdown lasted less than 20 hours, and casinos reopened at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday after Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, gave his okay. Several casino parking garages and pool areas were flooded with storm surge, which is typical during tropical storms. Only minor damage was reported.
Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi General Manager Chett Harrison said, “Just what we expected, mud on the pool deck. Just left a muddy mess.” He said the storm surge forced water into the pool area and ground-level elevator landing but it receded quickly. Recorded by storm chasers, video was nationally broadcast showing water at a height of about four feet inside the Golden Nugget elevator lobby but it did not reach the casino floor.
Roughly 300 guests were at the Golden Nugget when the shutdown order was issued. Casino hotels were allowed to remain open. Scott King, Golden Nugget’s vice president of marketing and resort operations said, “We expected the surge, we were prepared for it and we are back open for business. We had 300 people in the hotel. Some had never been through a hurricane before and they bonded. We will have some sheetrock work to do, but the casino is fine and most importantly everyone in the hotel is fine, all of our team members are fine, and we’re ready to rock and roll.”
King added, “It’s really important for employees to come in here and have work to do go home and go to sleep with the assurance that their jobs are still here. Because there are other parts of the country where something like this happens and they cannot reopen because the customers aren’t there and then people lose their jobs.”
At the Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, General Manager John Ferrucci said, “We never lost power and the water never got near the building” although it did reach the new pool, which crews cleaned Sunday morning.
Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville reported no damage, flooding or loss of power during Hurricane Nate and the casino floor reopened Sunday morning. Chief Executive Officer LuAnn Pappas said the hotel, restaurant and lounge remained open for the staff, guests and several pets. “Thankfully everyone is safe, and our leadership team is tremendously thankful to those who stayed and helped to expeditiously close and then reopen the casino floor and all other outlets,” Pappas said.
Nate knocked down branches and leaves at Beau Rivage Biloxi, but the resort, restaurants and casino reopened before 2:00 p.m. Sunday. The exterior of Hard Rock sustained some exterior damage.
Margaritaville Resort in Biloxi fared worse than the other properties and reopened Sunday, October 15. Wind and water caused $7.5 million in damages to the resort. A spokesman said, “Due to damage from the wind and water, we lost our elevators and escalators, and were fearful that we might have been closed until mid-November. After some due diligence, we learned we can make some repairs that will enable us to utilize two of our elevators and reopen about 170 of our rooms. Everything else will be ready to go and we’re happy to welcome back employees and guests.” Although only half of its rooms will be open, all of the resort’s amenities will be available.
The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport also resumed operations October 8, but much of Highway 90 remains closed as crews clear sand and debris.
