Damage by Rita Doesn't Look as Bad as Feared

Although casino officials have not been able to reach their properties in Lake Charles, Louisiana, it appears damage caused by Hurricane Rita is much less intense than expected. The casinos in Lake Charles are certainly in better shape than the barge casinos hit by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi less than a month ago.

David Strow, spokesman for Harrah's, which operates a casino in Lake Charles, said, from looking at television news shots of the area, it didn't appear that the damage was nearly as severe as in Mississippi. But Harrah's wouldn't know how bad a hit the company took in Louisiana until its team, which was scheduled to touch down sometime Monday, actually saw the casino for themselves.

Harrah's is asking its employees to call its hotline, 1-877-422-7466, so they could be accounted for.

More than 8,000 Harrah's employees are still out of work due to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed Harrah's Grand Casino properties in Biloxi and Gulfport. Katrina tore casino barges away from their hotels and tossed them hundreds of yards away. None of the almost dozen casinos in Gulfport and Biloxi has yet reopened.

Casino industry officials hope that Mississippi lawmakers will now take another look at legislation that requires casinos there to float. That requirement has been partly blamed for the total destruction.

The hotel parts of the casinos, which sit on land, survived in such good shape that they are now being used to house emergency workers.

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