Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico. These states are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States. All Gulf States are located in the Southern region of the United States.
The Gulf Coast is a highly productive economic region with many industries relating to fishing, aerospace, agriculture, biomedical research, and tourism. The region is anchored by the cities of Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, and Tampa, all the centers of their respective metropolitan areas and containing large ports.
Geography
The Gulf Coast is made of many inlets, bays, and lagoons. The coast is also intersected by numerous rivers, the largest of which is the Mississippi River. Much of the land along the Gulf Coast is, or was, marshland. Ringing the Gulf Coast is the Gulf Coastal Plain which stretches from Southern Texas to the western Florida Panhandle. The western portions of the Gulf Coast are made up of many barrier islands and peninsulas, including the 130 miles (210 km) Padre Island and Galveston Island located in the U.S. State of Texas. These landforms protect numerous bays and inlets providing as a barrier to oncoming waves. The central part of the Gulf Coast, from eastern Texas through Louisiana, consists primarily of marshland. The western part of the Gulf Coast, predominantly Florida, is dotted with many bays and inlets.
Climate
Due to the Gulf's proximity to the subtropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf Coast area is vulnerable to hurricanes as well as floods and severe thunderstorms. Tornadoes are infrequent at the coast but do occur, however the frequency at which they occur in inland portions of Gulf Coast states is much greater. Earthquakes are extremely rare to the area, but a surprising 6.0 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico on September 10, 2006, could be felt from the cities of New Orleans to Tampa.
Economic activities
NOAA map of the 3,857 oil and gas platforms extant off the Gulf Coast in 2006.
The Gulf Coast is a major center of economic activity. The marshlands along the Louisiana and Texas coasts provide breeding grounds and nurseries for ocean life that drive the fishing and shrimping industries. The Port of South Louisiana (between New Orleans and Baton Rouge in Laplace) and the Port of Houston are two of the ten busiest ports in the world by cargo volume.[1] As of 2004, seven of the top ten busiest ports in the U.S. are on the Gulf Coast.[2]
The discovery of oil and gas deposits along the coast and offshore, combined with easy access to shipping, have made the Gulf Coast the heart of the U.S. petrochemical industry. The coast contains nearly 4,000 oil platforms.
Besides the above, the region features other important industries including aerospace and biomedical research, as well as older industries such as agriculture and — especially since the development of the Gulf Coast beginning in the 1920s and the increase in wealth throughout the United States — tourism.
History
The history of the Gulf Coast is an important part of United States history; as economically important as the Gulf Coast is to the United States today, it arguably once held an even greater position of prominence in the U.S.
Map of the
Louisiana Purchase
The first Europeans to settle the Gulf Coast were primarily the French and the Spanish. The Louisiana Purchase and the Texas Revolution made the Gulf Coast a part of the United States during the first half of the 19th century. As the U.S. population continued to expand its frontiers westward, the Gulf Coast was a natural magnet in the South providing access to shipping lanes and both national and international commerce. The development of sugar and cotton production (enabled by slavery) allowed the South to prosper. By the mid 19th century, the South, including the Gulf, by some standards was populated by the nation's wealthiest people. The city of New Orleans in particular, being situated as a key to commerce on the Mississippi River and in the Gulf, had become the largest U.S. city not on the Atlantic seaboard and the fourth largest in the U.S. overall.
Two major events were turning points in the earlier history of the Gulf Coast region. The first was the American Civil War, which caused severe damage to some economic sectors in the South, including the Gulf Coast. The second event was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. At the end of the 19th century Galveston was, with New Orleans, one of the most developed cities in the region. The city had the third busiest port in the U.S.[3] and its financial district was known as the "Wall Street of the Southwest." [4] The storm mostly destroyed the city (which has never regained its former glory) and set back development in the region.
Hurricane Katrina
Since these darker times the Gulf Coast has been hit with numerous other hurricanes. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane. It was the most damaging storm in the history of the United States, causing upwards of $80 billion in damages, and leaving over 1,800 dead. Again in 2008 the Gulf Coast was struck by a catastrophic hurricane. Due to its immense size, Hurricane Ike caused devastation from the Louisiana coastline all the way to the Kenedy County, Texas region near Corpus Christi.[5] In addition, Ike caused flooding and significant damage along the Mississippi coastline and the Florida Panhandle[6] Ike killed 112 people and left upwards of 300 people missing, never to be found.[7] Hurricane Ike was the third most damaging storm in the history of the United States, causing more than $37.6 billion[8] in damage, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, and sparking the largest search-and-rescue operation in U.S. history.[9].
Other than the hurricanes, the Gulf Coast has redeveloped dramatically over the course of the 20th century. The petrochemical industry, launched with the major discoveries of oil in Texas and spurred on by further discoveries in the Gulf waters, has been a vehicle for development in the central and western Gulf which has spawned development on a variety of fronts in these regions. Texas in particular has benefited tremendously from this industry over the course of the 20th century and economic diversification has made the state a magnet for population and home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other U.S. state. Florida has grown as well, driven to a great extent by its long established tourism industry but also by its position as a gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America. As of 2006, these two states are the second and fourth most populous states in the nation, respectively (see this article). Other areas of the Gulf Coast have benefited less, though economic development fueled by tourism has greatly increased property values along the coast, and is now a severe danger to the valuable but fragile ecosystems of the Gulf Coast.
Metropolitan areas
The following table lists the 15 largest MSAs along the Gulf Coast.
Metropolitan Statistical Areas on the United States Gulf Coast
| Rank |
Metropolitan Statistical Area |
2008 Pop (est.) |
2000 Pop |
Δ Pop |
Combined Statistical Area |
| 1 |
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA |
5,728,143 |
4,715,407 |
0061+21.48% |
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA |
| 2 |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA |
2,733,761 |
2,395,997 |
0155+14.10% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 3 |
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA MSA |
1,134,029 |
1,316,510 |
1090-13.86% |
New Orleans-Metairie-Bogalusa, LA CSA |
| 4 |
Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, FL MSA |
687,823 |
589,959 |
0114+16.59% |
Sarasota-Bradenton-Punta Gorda, FL CSA |
| 5 |
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL MSA |
593,136 |
440,888 |
0015+34.53% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 6 |
Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope, AL CSA |
580,648 |
540,258 |
0712+12.71% |
Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope, AL CSA |
| 7 |
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL MSA |
452,992 |
412,153 |
0258+9.91% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 8 |
Corpus Christi, TX MSA |
415,376 |
403,280 |
0610+3.00% |
Corpus Christi-Kingsville, TX CSA |
| 9 |
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX MSA |
378,255 |
385,090 |
0896-1.77% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 10 |
Naples-Marco Island, FL MSA |
315,258 |
251,377 |
0039+25.41% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 11 |
Gulfport-Biloxi, MS MSA |
234,625 |
246,190 |
1017-4.70% |
Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS CSA |
| 12 |
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA MSA |
201,148 |
194,477 |
0590+3.43% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 13 |
Lake Charles, LA MSA |
192,856 |
193,568 |
0829-0.37% |
Lake Charles-Jennings, LA CSA |
| 14 |
Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, FL MSA |
179,693 |
170,498 |
0474+5.39% |
~primary census statistical area |
| 15 |
Panama City-Lynn Haven, FL MSA |
163,946 |
148,217 |
0228+10.61% |
~primary census statistical area |
Transportation
Road
Major Interstates
I-45 and
I-10 near
Downtown Houston
Houston Skyline
| Highway |
Significant Cities Served |
| Interstate 10 |
Beaumont, Biloxi, Gulfport, Houston, Lake Charles, Mobile, New Orleans, Pensacola |
| Interstate 37 |
Corpus Christi |
| Interstate 45 |
Galveston, Houston |
| Interstate 65 |
Mobile |
| Interstate 75 |
Bradenton, Cape Coral, Naples, St. Petersburg, Tampa |
Major U.S. routes
The
Tampa Bay Area
| Highway |
Significant Cities Served |
| U.S. 29 |
Pensacola |
| U.S. 41 |
Bradenton, Cape Coral, Naples, St. Petersburg, Tampa |
| U.S. 49 |
Biloxi, Gulfport |
| U.S. 59 |
Houston, Victoria |
| U.S. 90 |
Beaumont, Biloxi, Crestview, Houma, Lake Charles, Mobile, New Orleans, Pascagoula, Pensacola, Thibodaux |
| U.S. 98 |
Fort Walton Beach, Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City |
Other significant routes
Tampa Skyline
Air
International service
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
Aerial View of the City of New Orleans
| Airport |
International Destinations |
| George Bush Intercontinental Airport |
Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bonaire, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Cayman Islands, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Singapore, UAE, United Kingdom, Venezuela |
| Tampa International Airport |
Canada, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom |
| Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport |
Canada, Honduras, Mexico |
Rail
Amtrak Service
Sunset Limited in
Houston.
| Train |
Route |
Gulf Coast Cities Served |
| City of New Orleans |
Chicago to New Orleans |
New Orleans |
| Crescent |
New York to New Orleans |
New Orleans, Picayune, MS, Slidell, LA |
| Sunset Limited |
Los Angeles to Orlando (temporarily New Orleans) |
Bay St. Louis, MS, Beaumont, TX, Biloxi, Crestview, FL, Gulfport, MS, Houston, Lake Charles, LA, Mobile, New Orleans, Panama City, FL, Scriever, LA, Pascagoula, MS, Pensacola |
See also
Notes
- ^ Rosenberg, Matt (2003-06-14). "Busiest Ports in the World". http://geography.about.com/cs/transportation/a/aa061603.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
- ^ Rosenberg, Matt (14). "Waterborne Commerce Statistics: Tonnage for Selected U.S. Ports in 2004". http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/ndc/wcsc/portname04.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
- ^ "The 1900 Storm". http://www.1900storm.com/isaaccline/isaacsstorm.lasso. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
- ^ "Galveston, Texas History". Galveston.com. http://www.galveston.com/history. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ^ Evacuation and Devastation in Southern Texas
- ^ Flooding in Miss. and FL
- ^ Hurricane Ike missing persons
- ^ Robbie Berg (2009-01-23). "Hurricane Ike Tropical Cyclone Report" (PDF). NHC. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL092008_Ike_3May10.pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Ike Evacuation and Rescue Operation
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