Land-based casinos in South Louisiana had to remain closed on Saturday owing to the hurricane strike. Louisiana racetracks and casinos are facing a second hurricane in the state in the past six weeks.

Hurricane arrives near the border

The Hurricane Delta moved along the Gulf of Mexico Friday because of which casinos and racetracks remained shut on Saturday. Casinos located in Vinton, east of the Texas border. Casinos near the state of Mississippi and New Orleans were also shut down.

Delta is a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds reaching 100 mph, touched the southwestern Louisiana area and the coastal town of Creole was affected by the winds on Friday evening. The hurricane made landfall just 12 miles east of the site where Hurricane Laura touched down in August.

Were casino properties damages?

Gregory Hennagin, the general manager of Lake Charles-based Golden Nugget Casino said that the hurricane may have caused some roof damage to the property. Lake Charles area hosts four resorts, which remained closed since Thursday as a precaution. No deadline has been set for reopening the resorts as of the weekend. Louisiana authorities did not report any incidents of property damage at casinos by early Saturday. However, State Police Lt. Robert Fontenot said that they are assessing the damage by the storm.

On early Saturday, approximately 800,000 residents and businesses in the region had no power. Residents already faced damages six weeks earlier because of Hurricane Laura, a category 4 storm. As winds blew over 150 mph, more than 30 people were killed in the area. The four casinos were also damaged by the storm.

Players who missed the action don’t have the option of online casinos in Louisiana. If the state authorities legalize online casinos and sports betting, hurricanes and other calamities will not affect the casino industry so drastically. Players will get instant access to their favorite casino games and betting opportunities which could help in increasing state revenues as well.