Biloxi Updating Katrina Flood Markers Throughout City

From: City of Biloxi    Vincent Creel    Filed 6/15/10

A Public Works crew this week has been updating the so-called K-lines throughout the city, the foot-wide blue lines on more than 70 utility poles that provide quiet reminders of the height of the Katrina storm surge.

(Photo Right: Arrow points to marker on telephone pole)

The work is a follow up to a city project that began in 2007, when the city’s Community Development Department used contour and high-water marks provided by FEMA to create a list of Katrina water marks at high-traffic locations.

The Public Works sign department had originally painted light blue lines -- about a foot thick -- on three dozen poles, primarily in east Biloxi, and last week began retouching the existing K-lines and adding about 40 more locations.

"We're at the point where people tend to forget how high that storm surge was," Mayor A.J. Holloway said. "And seeing those blue lines on the poles helps drive that point home. They serve as a reminder for local residents, and an education for visitors."

Highest levels in the report: 17.79 feet above ground, which was recorded on U.S. 90 between Lee and Caillavet streets

Community Development staffer Eric Nolan plotted 72 high watermarks at key locations in the city using FEMA contour maps and FEMA highwater marks.