Coast casinos announce closures ahead of Hurricane Ida landfall. Here’s the list.
Bets are that people want to get to the Coast casinos this weekend to wager on football games, but the action in the tropics will affect their plans.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission is monitoring the track of Hurricane Ida and will act appropriately to protect the casino employees and patrons, said Executive Director Allen Godfrey.
Many casino operators have already decided to close:
▪ Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi will close the casino floor at 2 a.m. Saturday, and hotel guests have until noon to check out. The Gary Allan show was moved to Saturday, Oct. 16. Current tickets will be honored for the new date. The BMW Summer Series Giveaway Drawing is rescheduled for Sept. 4. The plan is to reopen the Beau Rivage at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
▪ Hard Rock Casino Biloxi will close at noon Saturday.
▪ IP Casino Biloxi will close at noon Saturday, with hotel checkouts by 1 p.m.
▪ Boomtown Biloxi will close at noon Saturday.
▪ Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast will close at noon Saturday.
▪ Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi will close at 4 p.m. Saturday.
▪ Silver Slipper Casino general Manager John Ferrucci decided to play it safe and will evacuate the casino, hotel and RV park at 6 p.m. Saturday. He hopes to reopen the casino and amenities at 10 a.m. Tuesday if the road to the site is clear.
▪ Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi will close at 6 p.m. Saturday.
▪ Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville will close at 6 p.m. Saturday.
▪ Palace Casino in Biloxi will close at 8 p.m. Saturday, as the storm surge forecast from Hurricane Ida likely will cause significant flooding of roads and parking areas near the resort. “We plan to reopen Tuesday morning, Aug. 31, at 8 a.m., and will update everyone after the storm passes,” said General Manager Keith Crosby..
▪ Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi will close at midnight Saturday.
▪ Island View Casino in Gulfport closed the casino on the south side of U.S. 90. The casino on the north side remained open at 8 p.m. Saturday.
A curfew goes into effect at 8 a.m. Sunday in Harrison County until the hurricane passes.
This is the second hurricane watch for the Coast casinos this year. In June, Tropical Storm Claudette was in the Gulf and possibly heading toward the Mississippi Coast. The system brought gusty winds and heavy rain to Mississippi, but the storm tracked east over Alabama and Florida and the Coast casinos stayed open.
The Gaming Commission has ordered all the casinos in South Mississippi to close because of tropical weather many times over the years. In other cases, individual casinos closed because of flooding or hazardous road conditions.
Impacts from Ida’s storm surge could be greater at Silver Slipper and Hollywood Gulf Coast in Hancock County and the casinos along the beach than at IP Casino in Biloxi and Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville, which are on the Back Bay rather than the front beach.
Godfrey said the casino operators in South Mississippi have taken steps with COVID to establish safety precautions for their staff and customers while staying open and providing jobs, and are making preparations for any impact from the storm.
“They’re taking care of their staff and patrons,” he said, “and they’ll do the same thing here.”
This is Godfrey’s 11th hurricane season as executive director and comes just days before he retires from the job on Aug. 31.
Jay McDaniel, Godfrey’s deputy director for 10 years, becomes the new executive director on Sept. 1.
The Sun Herald will provide any updates should the casinos close because of Hurricane Ida.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 11:26 AM.
