Gulfport, Mississippi (CNN) -- Ben Stone knows quite a bit about disasters.





Five years ago, a 28-foot storm surge from Hurricane Katrina flattened his house and almost wiped out his hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi.





Now, if a rapidly growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico comes ashore -- as some expect -- Stone will be able to see it from the front porch of his newly-built house.





"You can get mad about this," he said. "I'm very disturbed about it."





Like residents along the coast of Alabama and Florida Panhandle, it is a waiting game for Gulfport.





Already a heavy smell of oil hung over the Mississippi beaches.





"This could not have happened at a worse time in our history," said John Kelly, the town's chief administrative officer.





The city has undertaken half a billion dollars in new construction since Katrina. Of that, $30 million is being spent on developing the harbor -- the third largest container port on the Gulf Coast.





"Well, it if it threatens the commercial sea lanes, that's a concern because if ships don't come in and ships aren't able to go out, that stops commerce," said Donald Allee, the CEO of Mississippi State Port Authority.





Equipment operator Daniel Schepens knows all too well what that will mean.





After Katrina, he was out of work for a month. He is worried the fallout from the spill could be worse.





"No ships, the warehouses are empty, no trucks, no imports, no exports," he said.





Federal officials closed a portion of the northern Gulf of Mexico to fishing Sunday, curtailing a billion-dollar business as high winds and choppy seas hampered efforts to corral a rapidly growing oil spill.





The spill cast a pall over the annual Blessing of the Fleet in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, one of many towns that make their living from the Gulf.





Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana attended a boat blessing in St. Bernard, Louisiana, where fishermen have observed the tradition for decades to usher in the shrimp season.





"Louisianians are resilient and understand that in times like these, it is our traditions that tie us closer together and provide the strength we need to face the challenges ahead," he said.





"This tragic oil spill has reminded everyone about the valuable connection between our residents and our wildlife, fisheries and coastline."





In Venice, Louisiana, a rain-spattered President Obama told reporters his administration has launched a "relentless response" to the spill, but said the problem might not be solved for "many days."





A ruptured undersea well off Louisiana is spewing about 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico, and efforts to shut off the flow have been unsuccessful since the late April explosion that sank the drill rig Deepwater Horizon.





The leading edge of the slick has grown closer to the coast of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.





Adm. Thad Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the slick was still nine miles off the Louisiana coast, but seas of 6 to 10 feet have made deploying booms to fend the spill off the coast "somewhat problematic."





Oil giant BP, which owns the well at the heart of the problem, said it had prepared massive boxes to be lowered over the leak points, but deploying them would take about a week.





The minimum 10-day fishing restriction imposed Sunday by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration covers an area between the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana to the waters off Florida's Pensacola Bay.





"Balancing economic and health concerns, this order closes just those areas that are affected by oil," NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a statement announcing the decision. "There should be no health risk in seafood currently in the marketplace."





The Gulf Coast's commercial fishing industry brings in about $2.4 billion to the region.





Thomas Rodi, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Mobile, officiated at Sunday
What gulf is closed to fishing? Where does the heavy smell of oil reach? Which oil company is responsible? Which city were the beaches effected in? What smell hangs over Mississippi? What side of the Gulf of Mexico is closed to fishing?
of Mexico Mississippi beaches. BP, Mississippi of oil northern
question: What gulf is closed to fishing?, answer: of Mexico | question: Where does the heavy smell of oil reach?, answer: Mississippi beaches. | question: Which oil company is responsible?, answer: BP, | question: Which city were the beaches effected in?, answer: Mississippi | question: What smell hangs over Mississippi?, answer: of oil | question: What side of the Gulf of Mexico is closed to fishing?, answer: northern