Hurricane Irene will leave a lasting impact on Atlantic City, N.J. long after the three-day evacuation order was lifted at 1 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 28.
Though the Hurricane Irene made a landfall on Long Beach Island as a minimal Category I storm, Irene’s effects will be felt in the pocket books of laidoff workers whose jobs relied on the tourism and casino industries.
1.5 Million Tourists, Residents Forced To Leave
The evacuation order given by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saved lives, but made Atlantic City and other communities a virtual ghost town after 1.5 million tourists and residents left for higher and drier ground before Hurricane Irene hit.
As a result, Atlantic City’s 11 casinos were forced to close Saturday morning, more than 12 hours before Hurricane Irene began to delivery the first of her punishing effects. They remained closed Sunday and were to begin reopening on Monday.
Casino executives were forced to order a shutdown based on the earlier predictions of historic flooding that would cover Atlantic City’s streets in water, according to Dennis Gomes, co-owner of Resorts Casino Hotel.
Resorts Loses $4.0 Million
Gomes said a there-day shutdown caused by Hurricane Irene would cost Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City about $3.5 to $4 million in lost business.
A three-day shutdown in 2006 cost the Atlantic City casinos almost $50 million, shutdown would prove costly to Atlantic City, which is already struggling with a 4.5-year revenue slump brought on by competition from casinos in neighboring states and worsened by the fragile economy. Gomes estimated a lost weekend caused by Hurricane Irene could cost Resorts $3.5 million to $4 million in lost business.
Other Atlantic City casinos were expected to post similar losses in the wake of Hurricane Irene’s fury.
“This weekend is 25 percent of one of the two best months of the year,” he said.
The three-day shutdown in 2006 cost the Atlantic City casinos an estimated $50 million to $55 million, according to the Associated Press.
The loss of 25 percent of one of the busiests months of the year and lasting effects that could hurt next weeks Labor Day Weekend crowds could deal a double-whammy to a weak Atlantic City casino market.
35-Month Decline Continues
The 11 Atlantic City casinos took in 6.5 percent less in revenue in July, continuing a 35-month decline that began with the worldwide economic recession of 2008.
The only other time a Hurricane forced the 11 Atlantic City casinos were forced to close was in 1986 when Hurricane Gloria brushed the coast. Hurricane Gloria delivered punishing winds, flooding rains and Atlantic City’s second-highest storm surge. Casino gambling came to Atlantic City in 1978.