did harrahs in new orleans get flooded?

[PokerPaul]

imagine all those loose chips floating around.

ANd didnt they just complete a multimillion dollar renovation.

[playersare]

harrah's N.O. closed indefinitely. previously they were thinking Sept. 30th but that's probably not happening even with parts of the city back running this weekend.

all gulf properties were shuttered in advance of the storm so presumably all currencies and chips are secured.

money spent on renovations? one word - insurance.

[LittleOldLady]

According to the flood map, Harrah's was not flooded. In fact the riverfront neighborhoods on both sides of the river fared the best. The flooding is in the lakefront neighborhoods where the levees broke. My house is/was just a block or so from one of the breaches in the London Avenue Canal, and at the maximum it had 9.7 ft of water in/over it. As of today it still had about 3.7 ft of water in it. Sigh.....

[pokerstudAA]

The last I heard was that Harrah's NO was closed and the police and fire departments were using it as a command center/staging area near downtown. Definately not open.

[malo]

[ QUOTE ]
According to the flood map, Harrah's was not flooded. In fact the riverfront neighborhoods on both sides of the river fared the best. The flooding is in the lakefront neighborhoods where the levees broke. My house is/was just a block or so from one of the breaches in the London Avenue Canal, and at the maximum it had 9.7 ft of water in/over it. As of today it still had about 3.7 ft of water in it. Sigh.....

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to hear you were so severely hit by the storm. Just wanted to say...wish you all the best in your recovery and rebuilding.

If the NOLA police and fire departments are utilizing Harrah's, that would indicate the building is still in good shape. They might be able to reopen in the foreseeable future. Probably will depend a lot on how long the building is needed for police/fire use and how much of the city can be reopened.

Do wonder if the Biloxi/Gulfport casinos will try to get temporary locations up and running. Seems like it would take 1-2 years to build a proper casino/resort type facility...temporary buildings could at least get the casinos back in business.

[LittleOldLady]

[ QUOTE ]
If the NOLA police and fire departments are utilizing Harrah's, that would indicate the building is still in good shape. They might be able to reopen in the foreseeable future. Probably will depend a lot on how long the building is needed for police/fire use and how much of the city can be reopened.

Do wonder if the Biloxi/Gulfport casinos will try to get temporary locations up and running. Seems like it would take 1-2 years to build a proper casino/resort type facility...temporary buildings could at least get the casinos back in business.

[/ QUOTE ]

The mayor wants to open the CBD next week and the French Quarter shortly thereafter, although the feds think that is premature. In any case, it will be a good long while before the tourist industry will be back in business. If, for example, we get one of our normal, everyday torrential downpours, the city will be screwed.

The Mississippi casinos took a big hit. They experienced what was essentially a tsunami, a huge wall of water which was estimated at about 30 ft. A friend of mine who lives a block and a half from the beach in Gulfport told me that his house is still standing, but a huge wave of water washed through, destroying almost all the contents. (He did tell me that his pictures of me survived, because they floated away on a mattress....) Under the circumstances, again I think it will be awhile before the Gulf Coast casinos are open for business. From what I understand the Florida panhandle has not yet fully recovered from Ivan last year, and this Katrina business is much much worse.

[Clarkmeister]

The Biloxi/Gulfport casinos are basically all demolished except for the IP and Beau Rivage. And none of the others will rebuild until the "can we rebuild on land" issue is formally resolved in the Mississippi legislature. Basically, you are looking at 3-4 months for the two aforementioned casinos to open, and 12-18 for the others.

[MicroBob]

just wanted to add that Harrah's is very near the NO Convention Center (hence the reason so many conventioners stop by Harrah's).

Obviously we could see from TV coverage that the CC was on dry land through the whole thing....meaning that Harrah's was also.

in other words, just from having walked around in that area before, I don't see any way that Harrah's could be flooded without the same happening to the CC. (or vice-versa).

[jakethebake]

According to Harrah's CFO, and I got this direct from his lips, damage was very minimal to the building.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
The Biloxi/Gulfport casinos are basically all demolished except for the IP and Beau Rivage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Beau Rivage was damaged pretty badly. The parking structure and one wall, in particular.