 "Photo: Amber Whittaker")
BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS. - What used to be a thriving tourism and gambling industry just across the Louisiana border into Mississippi, has been transformed by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
John Chaszar, a resident of Bay St. Louis, Miss., stands beside the washed-out bridge that was once U.S. Highway 90, as a stream of cars pulls up and people jump out to snap a couple of frames of the hurricane devastation before pulling away.
Chaszar also is the president of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, which includes Bay St. Louis, a small rural area home to many art galleries, restaurants and casinos.
"It's kind of killed tourism for right now," he said, adding that people who come to see the damage have created a new kind of tourism.
A new market has developed for tourists wanting to see the damage in the affected areas, Chaszar said.
The artists and the galleries in the area will take time to come back, he said.
"A lot of that heritage is gone," Chaszar said.
The Hancock County Committee of the Governor's Commission held public meetings in the area to take input, comments and opinions from 1,550 citizens who attended the hearings.
In a message posted on the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce Web site, Chaszar writes:
"The Hancock group's top issues for the commission report address ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness of public services, adoption of building codes, affordable housing, a countywide transportation plan, a comprehensive land use study, redeveloping commerce centers and strengthening social service infrastructure."
Chaszar also is the senior director of resort operations for Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis.
"The casino industry has changed since Katrina," Chaszar said.
"We live in an area prone to hurricanes," Chaszar said. "You assume the risk of being in the path of storms."
Chaszar, his wife, Heather, and son Christopher, 8, escaped with little or no damage to their own home.
"We don't live on the water," he said. "We were as well-prepared as can be."
"We live four miles off the beach and water came within inches of the house," he said.
It was the third time in four years the Chaszar family has had to evacuate, he said.
Previously, the Chaszars left the area in 2004 for Hurricane Ivan, and in 2002 for Hurricanes Isidore and Lili.
Hurricane Camille, which struck the area in 1969, was the benchmark for devastation from a hurricane, Chaszar said.
"Katrina is the new benchmark," he said.
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