Floating Casinos were Big-Assed Battering Rams Wrecked Biloxi

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/06/MNG07EJ2F71.DTL

The giant floating casinos of Biloxi were known to gamblers from Louisiana to Alabama as "The Boats," but when Hurricane Katrina came calling, they were more like floating battering rams.

They were huge, rudderless, rampaging monstrosities.

Ripped from their moorings by 145 mph winds and catapulted by 30-foot waves, many of Mississippi's 13 coastal casinos crashed around like elephants in toy stores, smashing historic homes and buildings in Biloxi and Gulfport.

One look at the aftermath in Biloxi, a resort town of 50,644 on the Gulf of Mexico, makes it quite clear that the big casinos credited with saving the Mississippi economy did their part to help wreck the town.

"That sombitch smacked my building, swept all my merchandise and guns out, and pushed that safe clear across the parking lot," said John Godsey, standing in the rubble that used to be his pawnshop and looking up at the wrecked Casino Magic right next to it in the parking lot. "This building would probably still be standing if the casino hadn't hit it."

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. What was the deal with those stupid things anyway?

Was it driven by some bible beating belief that as long as the evil vice of gambling wasn't touching their sacred land, then it was OK?

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. Yes - I think that was it.

:eyes:

[The_Casual_Observer]

30. OK

"Some lawmakers, particularly religious conservatives, have opposed land-based casinos along the coast or the Mississippi River because they fear other, inland counties would push for gambling house, too."

AP Sept 1 2005

And for you:eyes:

[LittleClarkie]

3. Naw. Riverboat gambling is a tradition, I figure.

It was either that, or it could also be because many communities don't allow gambling unless you happen to be an Injun.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. What river? Weren't those idiotic things floating on the gulf?

And, other than a one shaped like a pirate ship, they looked to be big ugly cheap square boxes on barges without any engines.

[LittleClarkie]

12. Caffine running out... brain shutting down...

I skipped over the word "Biloxi" and went straight for Mississippi and thought "river".

Like, oops.

Heh.

I'll be going now.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. They were actually very beautiful

and luxurious. The Grand Casino - that blew across the highway - was huge and an outstanding facility. The view from the restaurant was breathtaking.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. We have four of them here

and they are huge money makers.

[The_Casual_Observer]

27. Then they ought to get real about it & put them on land

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. Great observation.....after the fact.

[The_Casual_Observer]

33. Sorry, been saying it for years, but nobody listened.

Didn't exactly take a genius to see how stupid the whole thing was. Keep 'em off shore, otherwise all that evil and corruption will be all over the state!!

[niallmac]

5. Weird isn't it?

Had floating casinos off Los Angeles shore. Gambling OK past the 12 mile limit. Ask Mr. Lucky! Agree more of a Mississippi tradition.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. This is the regulation in many states

It goes back to the riverboat gambling tradition.

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. Those things didn't look like boats. It looked like they were

built to side step old "morals" laws, without any thought given to what might happen in the case of these storms.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. They were just huge

I have been in all of them. I am still stunned that they blew away so easily.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. Since they float, they have got to follow the surface of the water

more or less. I don't know how they looked before, but they sure looked forlorn and out of place up on the land.

[TahitiNut]

19. It's only conjecture, but I've thought it was due to "Interstate Commerce"

... jurisdictional issues. The states having exceptions for riverboats are all along the major shipping rivers (Mississippi, Missouri, etc.) of the 1800's. In those days, gambling was NOT the purpose of the riverboats, but a pastime of the passengers. Where there's a pastime, there's a profiteer. Hence, the professional Riverboat Gambler was born. I don't believe the locals thought they had jurisdiction on the boats. (Further, in those days the captain was God.) Perhaps that attitude was "encouraged" by the companies woning the boats. They probably regarded it as a draw for their passengers -- and maybe got a piece of the action.

[The_Casual_Observer]

26. I checked this out just a little

"Some lawmakers, particularly religious conservatives, have opposed land-based casinos along the coast or the Mississippi River because they fear other, inland counties would push for gambling house, too."

After the hurricane, “I think what you’re going to see, politically, is a different mind-set on everything,” Holland said.


AP Sept 1 2005

I thought so.

[TahitiNut]

28. I was thinking more along the historical tradition rather than ...

... contemporary politics. I'm sure they're engaging in the same "religious conservative" hypocrisy as always. I'm not someone who favors 'legalized' (commercial) gambling, but the games they're playing with a limited number of licenses (where's that invisible hand of a 'free market'??) and Indian gaming makes me want to :puke:

[The_Casual_Observer]

31. I look at the Indian gambling places as a subtle and lasting form

of revenge against the white man.
;-)

[Sgent]

35. Not in MS

in MS, there are no limits on license numbers... just that all casinos have to be free of influence from organized crime, and can only be built in waterways when approved by county votors (or on reservations).

[krkaufman]

4. Still sad that Mississippi required casinos to save its economy. n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

34. They're not just in Mississippi....casinos are also located in...

...Georgia and Tennessee. Both states use the revenue to fund their educational systems.

Alabama has resisted gambling to date, but I don't know how long they can allow Alabamians to take money out of the state to sink into the casinos and lotteries in three other states. Right now, parents in the state of Alabama are being called upon to buy all school supplies, and contribute th the constant stream of school fundraisers.

[krkaufman]

37. Ugh. Saddening.

Given that gambling is supposed to fund education, I wonder if there's some graph showing where the level of education begins to diminish gambling profits.

[sandnsea]

6. I was afraid of that

I never understood that this is how those were built until now. I figured that's why the damage in Biloxi was so bad. But I don't think it explains Waveland or Pass Christian. This was also just one nasty hurricane.

[Verve]

7. Were they not able to float up river before the storm? n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. No they were permanently anchored

and it's not a river - it's the Gulf of Mexico.

[Verve]

20. Oh. I was talking about the Mississippi that runs into the gulf.

I didn't know they were permanently anchored. Defeats the purpose of calling it a river boat, eh?

BTW, Thanks for the info!:hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. They were in Mississippi

40 - 50 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi river.

[Zynx]

21. They're not really mobile.

[TahitiNut]

29. Not until Katrina took the helm.

:scared:

[Secular Agent Man]

9. Or as Bubba Barbour calls them: "casinahs"! /eom

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. We had those same floating casinos here

And the funny thing is the state finally allowed them to be built right next to the water - on land - when they realized how dangerous they would be and how hard it would be to get help to the boats if there was an emergency.

[Rowdyboy]

18. As a politically savvy 50 year old Mississippian, I have NEVER understood

the deal with casinos being located on rivers and the Gulf. Supposedlyly it makes a big difference to the local fundies but I have no idea why.

I think the casinos will likely refuse to rebuild unless they're allowed to be land-based and I expect the state to cave. I certainly hoipe they have the sense to cave.

[Sgent]

23. The gambling law

passed in the 90's essentially is the following:

1) If the co. votors agree..

A casino maybe be built on the shores of a navigable waterway (MS River & Intercoastal Waterway).

2) The casino must float on said waterway, but does not have to be mobile.

3) 75% of all development costs and money must be put into permanent shoreside development -- hotels, golf courses, etc.

The casino's were huge floating barges, that were either moored or permanently anchored to the shoreline. In most casino's, you couldn't tell the difference between the foryer and the actual gambling floor.

Since they floated and couldn't be built on pilings, the floated off and did a huge amount of dmg.

[soothsayer]

36. Maybe they'll let them build the new ones on land instead.