Hurricane Gustav Surge Floods Mississippi Casino

The ground floor of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Biloxi’s casino row was flooded during the storm surge from Gustav and wind-whipped water continued to splash into its parking garage on the afternoon of Sept. 1.

Bobby Tuber, the casino’s facility-grounds manager, said the storm put about 30 inches of water in the building but the casino itself, located on an upper level, and was not damaged.

“We’re fine. We’ll come out all well,” Tuber said as he and others used a pump and a large hose to remove the water.

The 12 casinos operating along the Mississippi coast a few years ago were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina’s winds and storm surge. At the time, state law required the gambling portion of the resorts to be located on barges in the water.

Mississippi lawmakers quickly changed the law and 11 of the casinos since rebuilt on land. In 2007, gamblers left behind $2.9 billion in Mississippi casinos, including $1.3 billion along the coast. The take translated into $332.3 million in tax revenue for state and local governments.