My sister did not make it out. She held up in her house 1 mile inland in Pascagoula, Ms. We grew up with these storms and my family understands them very well. We spent the night on the phone yelling at her. I am very familiar with what she is facing. I am very ill to my stomach right now and it could be sometime before I hear anything. I am at work so thank you to those posting. Any info on MS coast between Gulfport and Mobile will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
From Sun Herald city editor Kate Magandy, in Long Beach at 10:a.am CDT
As Hurricane Katrina continued to pound South Mississippi Monday morning there were unconfirmed reports that there was water up to the second floor at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi and that there was water standing in the Grand Casino Biloxi.
There were reports of boats floating north of the beach line of Highway 90 in Gulfport about half a mile west of the Copa Casino.
Power outages were reported at about 100,000 customers as of 8 a.m.
In Gulfport, windows were blown out and the business district was partially underwater. The damage was described by Fire Chief Pat Sullivan as "massive." Waves were breaking across US 90 and there was water standing in the Gulfport Library.
The Jackson County Emergency Management Agency had to relocate to the courthouse after the roof came off their building in downtown Pascagoula. The roof also came off the gym at St. Martin High School and there were reports of flooding in the Chipley area of Pascagoula.
Wind gusts of 90 mph were reported at Hurley, and a tornado was sighted there about 8 a.m.
A longtime Coast resident, Magandy said, "Hurricane Elena (1985) was the worst I remember, and this is much worse. The wind is unbelievable. I just heard a pine tree snap ... it didn't creak and groan (like they sometimes do) it just snapped."
7:30 a.m. CDT
The wind is whipping now. The roof on the building is creaking. You can hear the building's joints straining.
Fire Chief Pat Sullivan succesfully rescued a woman and her four kids from their apartment after the roof ripped off, according to scanner traffic.
Lots of people still in their homes now and the shelters were pretty much all at capacity last night.
There was a seagull in the parking lot of the Sun Herald, desperately clinging to life this morning. A reporter who saw the bird said it was amazing that the thing held on in some of these gusts. It managed to find a slightly less windy spot behind a tire. He said he hoped the car stayed there.