Area has made dramatic comeback from Hurricane Katrina which took place 20 years ago
Editor’s note: In this edition of the MBJ, we take a comprehensive look at the experiences of government and business leaders from the Mississippi Gulf Coast responding to the incredible destruction from Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago, and then facilitating cooperation between volunteers, churches, other non-profits, and local, state and federal government to achieve rebuilding.
It has been said that Hurricane Camille in 1969, which resulted in the deaths of 257 people, killed more people on August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit than Camille did in 1969. Katrina resulted in the deaths of 1,833 people and an estimated $170 billion in damages, devastating businesses, industries, schools, churches, tourism attractions and homes in a huge swath running from the Florida Panhandle to west of New Orleans. Some Gulf Coast residents who lived in a home that was spared by Camille felt it was safe to stay for Katrina, which turned out to be fatal for many.
Jamie M. Miller, President and CEO, Mississippi Gulf Coast Business Council, had just finished building a new house and moving in at the end of 2004. He and his wife had children ages one, three and five when Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005.
“We did get convinced that we needed to leave the Coast for Katrina and went to stay with my brother in Gainesville,” Miller said. “My mother, in her early 70s at the time, lived in a home in Bayou View that had never flooded. It didn’t flood in Hurricane Camille, but ended up getting 4.5 feet of water in Katrina. So, I’m very grateful she had evacuated to my sister’s house. My house was fine with no major damage. But, I had just finished building a house and then realized I basically had to rebuild another house for my mom.”
After the storm, watching the pictures and videos coming out of the Coast was beyond shocking. Just trying to get back home was quite a chore because of the blocked roadways and recovery efforts.
Miller had been working with a private company doing geographic information systems work for local governments, a relatively new technology at the time. His parent company was based in New Orleans, and most cities and counties froze contracts while in crisis mode after Katrina.
By September of that year, Miller had gone to work for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and Gov. Haley Barbour had put together the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Renewal.
“Within months of changing jobs, I was hired by the Governor’s office to do recovery work on the Coast,” said Miller. “I spent the next several years working on developing policies and delivering programs working with communities in Jackson and George through the recovery process.”
FEMA came in quickly and started revising the flood maps, which created higher elevation standards for rebuilding. If there were substantial repairs needed to a structure, based on FEMA guidance, it had to be elevated.
“That was not an option for many people,” said Miller. “They didn’t have the money. There weren’t any contractors available. It was chaos. Building codes were not the same from city to city. Each city was dealing with permit issues differently. Some were trying to get people to obtain permits; others decided to just let people rebuild as fast as possible and figure it out later.”
Then those with homeowners’ insurance, but not flood insurance because they were not in a FEMA-designated flood zone, were offered federal grants for rebuilding. The grants were tied to requirements to build back to new standards.
There was also a huge amount of infrastructure repair needed, everything from roads and bridges to sewer and water systems. Miller said action plans were drafted for how the money should be spent most wisely. Could infrastructure be moved to less hazardous areas? What schools were safe to be rebuilt and which should be built elsewhere? A decision was made to invest a large amount at the State Port of Gulfport to make it more sustainable and resilient.
Miller said a lot went really well when it came to mitigating for future events.
“We have seen more recent storms have not had the same long-term impact they would have in the past,” said Miller. “A lot of houses and utilities are elevated.”
The Gulf Coast Business Council was established in the wake of Katrina to address the unique challenges facing the coastal communities. The council was launched by private sector companies that wanted to get directly involved in the recovery, and assist in making sure it was done correctly and as quickly as possible.
Fast forward, almost 20 years later, the Business Council still serves as a unifying voice of business and industry on all sorts of policy issues around the economy and economic competitiveness.
The Coast had its lowest job numbers in 2006, a year after Katrina. Twenty years later, there are more people employed on the Coast than before Katrina.
“We have grown back those jobs and, by 2017-2018, exceeded where we were before Katrina,” said Miller. “Some industries like gaming that were hit the hardest have made some of the biggest accomplishments. The population continues to grow. I think we have regained our place in the state as a place where people want to live, work and visit. Our sales tax revenues are at an all-time high. The state as a whole has done really well in the past few years in terms of economic development, and the Coast has played a role.”
Where would the Coast be today if there hadn’t been a Katrina? That is impossible to say. However, Miller considers the Coast’s recovery remarkable.
“If we had not had tremendous help from volunteers, neighbors, the U.S. Congress, the State of Mississippi and local governments, we wouldn’t be back where we are today,” said Miller.
Waveland, Ground Zero for Hurricane Katrina, “Looked Like an Atomic Bomb Had Gone Off”
After Hurricane Katrina hit 20 years ago, when Jay Trapani walked the Waveland beachfront area, he was stunned. From the railroad tracks to the beach, where there used to be a vibrant, attractive downtown with homes and businesses, nearly everything was wiped out.
“It looked like an atomic bomb had gone off,” said Trapani, who is currently mayor of Waveland which is where the eye of Hurricane Katrina came ashore. “There were some really nice historic buildings around for 100 years that were totally gone. My family evacuated to Destin, and we came back when they opened Nicholson Avenue one of the main roads to the beach. After we crossed the tracks, all we saw was military vehicles and personnel, and a big CNN news van. There were no buildings left standing.”
Trapani and his family had evacuated for the storm and returned to find their home completely destroyed. There were marks on pine trees still standing that showed the storm surge was 34 feet tall.
“Family members called and told us what to expect,” said Trapani. “Still, you were amazed when you came over those railroad tracks and saw all this destruction. We lost everything except the clothes we evacuated with and two vehicles.”
To put it in perspective, Trapani’s next-door neighbors died in the storm. They didn’t leave.
“Haley Barbour being the Governor at the time helped tremendously with the rebuilding of Waveland,” said Trapani. “He got us some funding on different projects. I think a lot of the Coast recovery progress goes back to Haley Barbour.”
The Trapani family rebuilt their home on the same spot, however the first level of the home is now 14 feet in the air. The increased costs of elevated construction have stymied rebuilding in the lower lying areas.
After the storm, for quite a while few people had returned to Waveland. However, the 2020 Census put the population at 7,000—about the pre-Katrina level. And there are currently ten to 15 houses under construction at all times.
“It is just a beautiful place to live,” said Trapani. “There are a lot of new businesses on Highway 90.”
Trapani said he is amazed every day at the resiliency of the residents who came back, built houses and stayed. For many, it was the only place they had ever lived and they wouldn’t live anywhere else.
“They take a lot of pride in Waveland and that is good to see that,” said Trapani. “All material things can be replaced. What makes up a city isn’t the buildings and things. It is the people. The people of Waveland, the majority of them, decided to stay.”
Hancock County Took Direct Hit from Katrina
Hancock County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Tish H. Williams, moved back home to Bay St. Louis several years before Hurricane Katrina hit. She loved being Chamber Director but thought it “would be the easiest job of my life.”
When Katrina hit, she was raising twin daughters eight years old. When they returned after evacuating, the only thing left of their home was the concrete steps.
“It was mind boggling,” she recalls. “We had been through many hurricanes in our lifetimes but nothing like this—coming home to find the entire town devastated. It isn’t anything you could have imagined. The beach road in Bay St. Louis was destroyed. It was just down to earth. Surviving and rebuilding was challenging because there was no road, no running water and no lights. It was pitch dark.”
The chamber office was gone and initially Williams thought she was the director of a chamber of commerce that no longer existed. Then she decided, “Now I know why I am here. There were no businesses open after Katrina, but those businesses needed me more than they ever had.”
Williams considers the leadership of then-Governor Haley Barbour as critical to the recovery efforts.
“His attitude was to hitch up your britches and get the job done,” she said. “He brought the vision and hope to rebuild and the funding that we needed. Overall, with the help of our Congressional Delegation, he brought in a $5.4-billion recovery package which included $1 billion for Hancock County.
“We needed to rely on the federal government; we wouldn’t have been able to rebuild without the federal government, not just FEMA but the recovery package for infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer. It was also inspiring to see all the help that came in from churches and other non-governmental organizations. You would have church volunteers come in, put out a grill and started cooking hamburgers. One man from Pennsylvania came in to raise millions to help rebuild the Child Development Center, the food pantry and the animal shelter.”
She initially went to Jackson to work on finding funding for the recovery and put her girls into a Catholic school. They came back to the Coast when Bay St. Louis schools reopened in October.
Williams wasn’t sure about raising her daughters in a disaster area that would take years to recover. But then one of her daughter’s said: “It’s not the buildings that make the town; it is the people.”
“That was the best thing I had heard, and it came from a child,” she said. “You see that in our businesses owned by local people who don’t want to leave. You don’t see a lot of franchises here, but home-grown businesses that are here to stay. It’s inspiring to see. We had our hands full, but it has been a privilege to help rebuild my own home town and see how far we have come in 20 years. Rebuilding our town brought everyone together. We are resilient people. We have proven that over the past 20 years.”
Williams worked to help set up the first business disaster recovery center on the Coast. It was extremely successful, and later received top awards from the Small Business Administration.
“The rebuilding process taught us to celebrate every little thing: electricity, water, a home, belongings,” she said. “And, what you learned to truly value is the people. The town could be rebuilt and that is what we did. Our population is now at 45,000 people compared to 42,000 before Katrina. We have kept moving forward as a community. I think that is something to be proud of. We have a charming town. Everyone wants to be here.”
Few in Gulfport Not Impacted by Hurricane Katrina
Billy Hewes, who recently completed his third term as mayor of Gulfport, was a Mississippi State Senator and an insurance agent when Hurricane Katrina hit, delivering about eight feet of water to his home near Bayou View in Gulfport. That meant he was impacted both professionally and personally.
Hewes received news the storm was going to be severe, so he and his family evacuated up to Orange Grove (north of Interstate 10) and stayed with his parents and siblings.
“As the storm was passing and we got out, the scope and scale of devastation was beyond comprehension,” said Hewes. “The closer you came to the coastline, the worse it got. Houses were reduced to piles of debris. South of the railroad tracks, hardly anything survived. The railroad tracks served as a miniature levee that prevented greater damage north of the tracks.”
Once Hewes checked on his loved ones, his job was to be there for his insurance customers and his constituents. A high priority was delivering a damage assessment to the governor and the federal Congressional Delegation.
“As the days went on dealing with the shock of the whole situation and working on a compilation of lives and structures lost, we started to prioritize,” recalls Hewes. “We saw the worst of Mother Nature, but the best of humanity. No matter how bad someone’s situation was, they were grateful for the fact they were alive and could reach out and contact neighbors and friends. It was the most selfless time I have seen with people taking care of others. Sometimes it was neighbors getting to know each other for the first time. It was a remarkable response with people helping their fellow man.”
The first organizations to show up to help were churches. They faced no red tape or bureaucratic delays. Church volunteers started ministering to people, providing food, clothing, water and sanitary supplies, and helping to gut and rebuild homes.
“These volunteers stayed for weeks, months and years,” said Hewes. “I do believe the collective efforts of the churches made the difference in where we are today. We were also fortunate to have Haley Barbour as Governor because he was well connected to President Bush and many key decision-makers on the Hill in Washington. We were also fortunate to have a senior federal Congressional Delegation able to tell our story. That resulted in a significant amount of federal funding being allocated to the rebuilding process.”
While focused on helping people return to their homes and work as quickly as possible, a priority was getting the schools back open. People couldn’t concentrate on rebuilding until their children were taken care of. This was one of many challenges, while work was still continuing to even get the basics in place—clearing debris from the streets and reconnecting utilities.
“The infrastructure had changed so much we had to learn how to re-navigate our communities, because all the landmarks and traffic signs were gone,” said Hewes. “As we planned the recovery, building back better, stronger and smarter was always the mission. We brought in urban design experts from around the world to figure out how to build back better. We used new approaches to city planning, and made substantial improvements to building codes. Most of the homes lost in the storm were within a few blocks of the beach. These were largely 50-to-100-year-old buildings. The standards today are much different. Those homes had great character, but the ways they were built made them more susceptible to hurricane damage, particularly with the severe flooding we experienced.”
With much of the historic architecture gone, Gulfport adopted incentives, including a tax offset to encourage people to reinvest, particularly in proximity to the decimated beachfront. That stimulated a fair amount of interest in rebuilding.
“We are very blessed to have a diverse economy, everything from business, industry, medical, retail and military,” said Hewes. “Those speak well to the success of the Gulf Coast. Tourism has always been our bread and butter, and there were 16,000 people out of work in the casino industry alone. Getting the tourism industry back on its feet was essential. There was a successful effort to make changes in our gaming laws allowing casinos to be dockside and land-based within 800 feet of mean high tide. That reinforced a message of the need for assurance and stability, and went to the core of our historic resiliency.”
Since then, the Coast has adopted a focus on the Blue Economy that has included a $500-million revamp of the Port of Gulfport to make it more viable and competitive. Gulfport lost Marine Life Oceanarium in Katrina, and there was a need to reestablish an aquarium component as part of the family-oriented tourism mix. The result is the highly popular Mississippi Aquarium.
Twenty years after the storm, Katrina is still the monster hurricane by which others are measured. But Hewes said the quality of life for Gulf residents is probably better than ever.
“From Hancock to Jackson to Harrison counties, there are great opportunities for people of all ages including music venues, great food and some of the things that have traditionally defined us such as our beaches and fishing,” said Hewes. “Our economy remains strong, evidenced by new business investments and steady numbers of visitors, year-in and year-out.”
There is no doubt Katrina contributed to a major increase in hurricane insurance rates. But with respect to the cost of living, Gulfport has been consistently rated as one of the more affordable beach towns in America. And, Hewes doesn’t see people abandoning coastal areas.
“History has shown people are always going to gravitate to the water,” said Hewes. “Most communities have built back to the water line and we continue to see considerable growth across the Coast. Many folks moved north of I-10 after Katrina, but the interest in living in close proximity to water, the Mississippi Sound or the bayous, is as high as ever. About 80% of America’s population lives within 100 miles of water.
“Everyone in the country is dealing with something: hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires or floods. Since Covid, the costs of all goods and services have substantially increased. Despite these factors, we have built back in a pretty remarkable fashion. Our area is still, to a great degree, undiscovered territory. People who visit for the first time say they had no idea how beautiful it is, how accommodating the people are, and how easy it is to get around. People are amazed when they come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”
Biloxi Experienced the Damage That Never Could Have Been Imagined
Biloxi Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tina Ross-Seamans was one of the few lucky ones whose home near the beach in Biloxi was spared during Hurricane Katrina; it was protected by the levee created by the railroad tracks.
Looking back, she kind of wants to forget parts like seeing the President’s Casino barge on top of the Holiday Inn. There are other parts she doesn’t want to forget.
“That’s what a community is all about, family and friends taking each other,” said Ross-Seamans. “Without FEMA and the SBA helping people get back and rebuild, it would have taken another 20 years. The main credit needs to go to Harrison County and Mississippi Emergency Management Agencies because they had a plan. They had been through this before and knew what we needed to get residents back in homes and back to work. The City of Biloxi partnered with the Mississippi Department of Transportation got the unbelievable amounts of debris moved.
“Even though we lost a lot, we were able to have a clean slate and build back better,” she said. “The silver lining is we were able to redo the Coast and improve it.”
Ross-Seamans said Biloxi is cleaner and that Katrina gave the area a facelift but the community has still kept the charm.
“The devastation of casino barges coming on land was crazy,” she said. “They became floating projectiles during the storm, which was the freakiest part. Tourism has always been strong on the Gulf Coast and luckily our legislators did see the need for the casinos to be connected to water, but not in the water.”
Ocean Springs, Spared the Worst of Katrina, Enjoying a Renaissance
Current Mayor and former Alderman at Large of 13 years, Bobby Cox, said in retrospective, “In twenty years since Katrina, I’ve seen Ocean Springs come back stronger, closer, and more alive than ever. I remember standing in my own barber shop back then, trying to figure out how to start over. Like so many other small business owners, I had to rethink everything —how to keep things safe, how to keep the doors open, and how to make it through a crisis we never imagined facing.
“We had never thought about those things before Katrina, but it taught us how to adapt, how to lean on each other, and how to build back better. That spirit of resilience is what defines Ocean Springs today, and it’s what will keep us moving forward for years to come,” said Cox.
“Although our coastal areas did not fare well, the heart of our business community survived without huge losses and were able to open their doors back up to consumers in a timely manner. The community’s commitment to growth has transformed Ocean Springs into one of the most sought-after destinations on the Gulf Coast. Local businesses, once devastated, now thrive thanks to the unwavering dedication of their neighbors and a strong relationship with the City and Ocean Springs Chamber-Main Street (which has been around since 1947). Boutique shops, art galleries, and award-winning restaurants have flourished, blending our coastal charm with a spirit of innovation,” said Cox.
“Tourism has also become a cornerstone of our recovery,” noted the Mayor. “Visitors from across the country come, not only to enjoy the beauty of our beaches and live oaks, but also to experience the cultural richness and welcoming atmosphere that defines Ocean Springs. Signature events, like the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival, have grown into national draws. We created a Food & Beverage tax in 2007, which helped aid in the growth of our town and specifically downtown. That tax sure helped us build a new police and fire stations and Hwy 57 Sports Complex, fix up our parks, and bring in new businesses and more activity.
“But it’s done more than just build up our safety and infrastructure.” noted Cox. “It’s also helped our whole community come back stronger after the devastation of Katrina. That tax has been a big part of how we’ve been able to rebuild, grow, and keep Ocean Springs a great place to live and visit. But it wasn’t just the tax—it has also been the folks who live here and the teams at City Hall and Chamber-Main Street working together to create things that made people want to come back to Ocean Springs after Katrina,” he said.
“The collaboration between individuals, civic leaders, and local businesses has built a community that doesn’t just survive challenges—it thrives because of them,” said Cox. “Ocean Springs is not just rebuilt; it is renewed—a shining example of how resilience, unity, and vision can turn even the darkest storm into a legacy of hope and progress.”
Chic Cody, City Events Coordinator and former Alderman of 24 years in Ocean Springs said of Katrina, “We were really blessed because of the high grounds in Ocean Springs the downtown district remained yet very damaged. We have done very well, improved our beach substantially, and replaced a lot of water, pipes and sewer since that time—thanks to funding after Katrina to help restore that infrastructure,” said Cody.
“We were able to improve the fort and turned it into a nice park today called Fort Maurepas where you can watch concerts, etc. It augmented the beach and became a more viable place to visit and hang out at. We did lose some restaurants, but we helped them rebuild quickly and others eventually came along.
“One clear sign of our resilience is that the old train station stood tall and stayed intact after Katrina. It speaks volumes that some of our historic buildings weathered the storm, whereas other places weren’t so fortunate,” he added. “Plus, our business community locked hands, took on a giant and were able to help each other in Ocean Springs and make it through a very difficult time.
Matt McDonnel, was a Downtown Alderman in Ocean Springs, serving 24 consecutive years before retiring in 2017.”I was a part of the administration that guided the city through the worst natural disaster in history. We were fortunate that while the damage was severe and we were cut off from Harrison County with loss of bridge, we were still able to put together enough commercial businesses to be able to open relatively quickly, so people had a sense of normalcy when they came to Ocean Springs,” he said. This became an opportunity to showcase Ocean Springs when virtually no other city on the coast was able to open and it positioned Ocean Springs in such a way that it was the beginning of the growth that we have now witnessed, some good, some not good, but it set Ocean Springs apart from most of the communities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”
McDonnel added, “The challenges we had helping residents on how to rebuild, and recover were identical to that which most other cities faced but our strong suit was that our city departments were able to get back up and operate faster helping us to capitalize on the bus development and recruitment which laid the foundation of where we are today.”
Former Ocean Springs Mayor, Kenny Holloway, who was mayor of Ocean Springs from 2021 until July 1, decided to stay with his brother, long-time Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, at the Biloxi City Hall during Hurricane Katrina. Four or five hours into the storm, they were shocked to see buildings, cars, boats and all kinds of other debris washing up Lameuse Street.
At the time, Holloway owned three automotive service centers. First responders were coming in and mechanical services were needed. And Holloway needed to reopen the company to be able to make a living.
“Ocean Springs was spared because it was off the direct hit of the hurricane and hilly enough that it got little damage downtown,” he said. “That was the beginning of Ocean Springs being discovered by Coast residents who would come to get away from the rebuilding in their areas and get back to normal.”
Holloway said Ocean Springs is as vibrant a community as can be found in Mississippi, and is in the best financial shape in its history.
“A lot of people want to invest in Ocean Springs, which has the best school district in the state,” said Holloway. “It is very attractive to folks, even those from out of state. We think real estate is expensive, and compared to our history, it is. But for people moving in from out of state, it is a bargain.”
Currently the city has about 1,500 golf carts registered. People like the fact that golf carts are easy to park and get around in.
“We’re in a golf cart more than our vehicles,” said Holloway. “We can get to the post office, most of the restaurants, City Hall and Winn Dixie.”
Pascagoula Has Come a Long Way
Pascagoula Mayor Jay Willis went through numerous hurricanes growing up in that town.
“It was a regular thing to deal with the trauma of hurricanes,” said Willis. “I was 16 years old when Camille hit and I have memories of that storm and its destruction. We thought nothing could ever be worse than Camille. We were used to dealing with hurricanes every few years, but Katrina was so much more destructive than anything we had ever seen.”
When Katrina hit, Willis owned a dental practice downtown and his wife, Debbie, was working at Johnson Brothers Jewelry Co., which she now owns.
“We had our residence, two businesses, a rental property and the homes of two elderly people depending on us in homes that were devastated by Katrina,” said Willis. “It was an interesting time. About 90 to 95% of the structures in Pascagoula flooded, which had never occurred before. In the past, maybe 10% of the structures in town which were located in low-lying areas would flood. But with a 22-foot storm surge at the beach, the water just kept moving inland, inland, inland. It pushed up the Pascagoula River and anything close to the river flooded as well. It was a mess. With Katrina, probably 90% of all structures in Pascagoula flooded to some degree.”
The situation of the Willis family was replicated for large numbers of business and home owners up and down the Coast. For many, there was no cell phone coverage or electricity for weeks. There was no place to live.
The couple was able to move into a fish camp they owned on Mobile Bay that survived where they lived for a couple of years commuting and back and forth working on the cleanup and recovery, getting businesses opened as quickly as possible and repairing the significant storm damage. It was difficult to find construction workers because many had nowhere to live. And the demand was unprecedented.
Willis said FEMA providing trailers and then Katrina Cottages was a blessing. The trailers were often parked in the front yards of homes while repairs were being done. The 308-square-foot Katrina Cottages were considered a more attractive and sustainable alternative to the trailers.
Chevron Pascagoula Refinery and the Ingalls Shipyard, two of the largest employers on the coast, have some of the highest salaries in the region and thus attract people to work from long distances. Willis said a lot of shipyard and Chevron employees who lived outside of Pascagoula were able to show up and help with the recovery.
Prior to Katrina, Chevron had invested in a tall levee encircling the refinery because the refinery had experienced destructive flooding before. Willis said they were able to close the gates and secure everything, and were mostly dry after the storm.
Another significant impediment to Pascagoula rebuilding is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initially drew new flood maps after the storm with extremely tall, impractical elevation requirements for new buildings, hurricane repairs to existing buildings, and building additions. FEMA later contracted with the South Mississippi Planning and Development District to redraw those maps using the latest technology, and the maps have been revised. The new maps are more favorable for reasonable elevations for construction in Pascagoula, but city leaders are waiting anxiously for FEMA to release the new maps—which has been seriously delayed even with pressure from the state’s federal Congressional Delegation.
“We think getting these new FEMA flood maps approved as the next big step for development in Pascagoula,” said Willis.
For about 15 years after Katrina, downtown Pascagoula had very little going on. However, the city has been able to incentivize investments through the Pascagoula Redevelopment Authority using funds from the Gulf Coast Restore Act that was part of the BP oil settlement fund, American Rescue Plan Act, Mississippi Legislative capital projects and legislative bond funds which have allowed us to incentivize private investments in our downtown area and beyond.
“The past five to six years have seen a total revitalization of our downtown area,” said Willis. “We took the Restore Act money and provided 25% matches for investments in the downtown area. We have used about $16 million in grants to incentivize about $70 to $80 million in downtown improvements. It is a huge success story and a perfect example of transformative growth and development.”