Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal FINAL REPORT

The final report from the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal of the Mississippi Gulf Coast was posted online this morning. The complete report is available for download by visiting the Governor's Commission Web site. What happened to Mississippi in the last days of August 2005 is unrivaled in our nation’s history. Hurricane Katrina, one of the largest and most violent storms ever recorded, cut a swath of destruction along the Gulf Coast from the Alabama border west to Texas. New Orleans flooded. Mississippi took the brunt of the winds and a storm surge that rose to more than 30 feet.

At least 230 people were left dead in our state. Sixty-five thousand homes were destroyed. Churches, schools, and historic landmarks were obliterated. The keys to Mississippi’s economic growth, the infrastructure of community and commerce, were so badly damaged it will take years and billions of dollars to put us back on track.

Recovery from such unprecedented calamity requires unprecedented commitment, and Governor Haley Barbour initiated the effort immediately. He asked me to chair the Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal with a mandate to explore the range of options before us and to recommend approaches that would not only restore what was lost but, in the governor’s words, make a Gulf Coast “better than ever.”

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