Gulf Coasts Casinos Prepping For Hurricane Season
Gulf Coast casinos in Mississippi and Louisiana are taking the required steps to prepare themselves for the hurricane season starting from 1st June, expected to be six months long.
Casinos present in both states have a devastating history of dealing with hurricanes and bad weather conditions.
The executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, Allen Godfrey, says that the commission is closely monitoring the hurricanes and their potential for destruction. The commission is trying to take major precautionary steps to avoid any damage to casinos due to these upcoming hurricanes.
Allen said, “As the hurricanes get closer, we get a better picture of it. The commission will soon start communicating with the casino operators for the future course of action. If we decide to close the casinos, then operators need to remove the customers as soon as possible, take care of the earning and secure their property by sufficient barriers, and keep providing reports to the commission. ”
The Mississippi Gaming Commission has provided a list of actions that casino operators have to follow before reopening their property. Once the casinos are opened, a member of the commission will visit each property to check that the rules are followed as per the opening.
There are 26 commercial casinos in Mississippi. Eight casinos are situated in the Biloxi area, and twelve casinos are situated along the Gulf Coast.
Next to Mississippi, Louisiana has 13 riverboat casinos, four racinos, and one land-based casino. Lt Robert Fontenot, Louisiana State Police says that the Gaming Enforcement Division is coordinating with the riverboat casinos to ensure that all the precautionary conditions are fulfilled.
2020: A Devastating Year
The previous year, South Louisiana casinos in Lake Charles were clobbered by the two deadly hurricanes Laura and Delta in just six weeks.
In August, the unoccupied isle of the riverboat casinos in Lake Charles drifted upwards during hurricane Laura and hit the bridge. The casinos were expected to reopen next year.
Several many casinos reported significant damage during the major storms that took place last year.
Many casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi shut down their operation during the upcoming of a major storm in both the states.
The deadly hurricane Zeta emerged during October and ripped through New Orleans, and swept the Casinos present in the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the East Crescent City.
There was a huge decline in the economic toll reported because of the number of strong storms hitting the Gulf Coast.
As per Josh Hirsberg, Chief Financial Officer at Boyd Gaming, the impact of the storms had an impact of $5 million on the Nevada-based companies.
Hurricane Records
Reported last year, there were a total of 30 recognized and named storms emerging in the Atlantic hurricane season. Of which 20 made it to the landfall of the United States, as per the reports of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Five of the reported storms hit Louisiana.
This year, almost 18 named storms are predicted to emerge in the Atlantic Basin in the hurricane season from the course of June 1 to November 30.