Sprol

It’s true that timing is everything. Though in the case of hurricane Katrina, the timing was everything bad. In fact, for the state of Mississippi and the city of Biloxi, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Though the media has chosen to fixate on the city of New Orleans, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina actually covers a land mass nearly equal in size to Great Britain. Over 90,000 square miles. Biloxi, Mississippi is part of that mass of destruction.

Located on the gulf shore, Biloxi is home to over 50,000 people. The 2000 U.S. Census estimated there were just under 12,000 residential homes in Biloxi at that time. If reports of over 5,000 residential homes being destroyed by Katrina are accurate, it means nearly half of the city’s homes are in ruins. Now that Katrina has left her mark, some aspects of the city’s future are uncertain.

Biloxi, along with Venice, LA, is renown for its King Mackerel and Red Drum fishing. The Southern Kingfishing Association and the FLW Kingfish Tour regularly hold their championship tournaments in the now devastated city of Biloxi. Though they’d like to believe that Biloxi can recover in time to hold this year’s events (which are scheduled for later this year), both organizations are looking for alternate locations.

In addition to professional fishing tours and tournaments, commercial fishing has been a way of life for hundreds of Biloxi’s residents. Hurricane Katrina hit right at the peak of shrimping season, and the start of oyster season. What had been a $700 million/year Gulf coast industry is now all but gone. Initial estimates are that 2/3 of the previously harvestable oyster beds have been decimated. The undersea economy has been crippled, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has announced a “fishery failure” in the Gulf. The announcement was made through the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which provides federal funding for relief and research after natural disasters, and through the Inter-jurisdictional Act, which makes funding available directly to affected fishermen.

There are currently over 300 federally licensed fishing vessels in the state of Mississippi.

NOAA has plans to conduct extensive studies of the water and marine life, beginning this week. It’s research vessel, the Nancy Foster, is already in the Gulf, conducting surveying cruises. Biologist aboard the vessel will take water samples, look at sediments in the Mississippi River, and test fish and shrimp for toxins and pathogens.

In addition, the EPA’s environmental aircraft (ASPECT) is being used to survey spills, and other damage, from the air.

Typically, during a hurricane, fish and shell fish are not only killed, but also washed out to sea. In time, the ones that are washed out usually return. But EPA and NOAA officials are concerned that contaminants in the Gulf water will contaminate returning sea life as well, making it unedible and therefore unmarketable. As the floodwaters have receded in Biloxi, they’ve carried industrial chemicals, petroleum, human and animal bodies, and dozens of cubic feet of solid waste. The FDA has stated that “anything that was potentially exposed to flood waters would be unfit for the human food supply and would have to be destroyed.”

Officials are also worried about the condition of the overall marine eco-sytem. Initial surveys of the Gulf have turned up everything from sunken boats to cars and roofs. Many of the boats and cars are leaking oil and fuel. There is also concern about radiological contaminants from universities and hospitals, and chemical spills from coastal businesses.

Not only has the water been contaminated, but the Gulf is also largely non-navigable. The coast of Biloxi was lined with floating casinos, which have been destroyed. The debris from those, and countless other structures, is now bogging down coastal waters. So even if the fishing was still good, the boats couldn’t maneuver well enough to do anything about it.

In addition to the hard hit Gulf waters, the EPA estimates the following affects in Mississippi as well:

• Over 500 drinking water systems affected
• Over 450 water systems have “boil water” notices
• 45 waste water treatment facilities affected

All things that add up to unsanitary, unsafe conditions. At one point, a Biloxi shelter was evacuated for fear of a dysentery outbreak.

Because NOAA is just beginning it’s research, the environmental affects of Hurricane Katrina won’t be fully known for some time. Though specifics are not yet known, the consensus seems to be that some of the damage is permanent. While water systems and treatment plants are repaired, and businesses rebuilt, the local fishing industry may never be what it was prior to Hurricane Katrina. And marine life and eco-systems may never fully recover.

Sources:

• Sun Herald
• http://www.biloxi.ms.us/
• http://www.usgs.gov/katrina/
• http://www.epa.gov/katrina/
• http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2506.htm