Hundreds of historic structures along the Mississippi Gulf Coast were reduced to rubble by the mammoth storm surge of Hurricane Katrina.

Among the those who got a firsthand look at the damage once the storm clouds passed was David Preziosi, executive director of the Mississippi Heritage Trust.

&#8220I didn’t have power at my work in Jackson but I did at home,” Preziosi said. &#8220Soon I was getting e-mails from people all over the country asking about these places.”

Preziosi led a damage assessment team from the organization. The group traveled to the Coast a dozen times to capture sobering images of destroyed historic treasures on film.

&#8220We went building by building, photographing each one just to have a record to give to FEMA for recovery efforts,” Preziosi said.

Preziosi presented his compilation Friday to about 30 people who gathered for the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation’s 47th annual awards luncheon.

Among the photographs was one of Beauvoir, the final residence of Jefferson Davis. Huricane Katrina wiped out its porch and visitor’s center. The first floor of the Presidential Library was gutted, and numerous artifacts are missing.

&#8220They were lost to the Gulf,” Preziosi said.

Other historic buildings, like The Tivoli Hotel in Biloxi that dates back to 1927, were targets of casino barges.

Some of Preziosi’s pictures have been published in newspapers and architectural trade magazines. The most striking was one taken in Gulfport of a spray-painted sign that read, &#8220Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

&#8220The sheer size of Katrina impacted the area more than anyone could imagine,” Preziosi said.

As Preziosi and his team moved further east along the coast toward Ocean Springs and Pascagoula, &#8220there was a certain randomness to the storm damage,” he said. &#8220We’d see one house was pushed off its foundation next to one that was not.”

The Mississippi Heritage Trust aims to preserve historic and cultural resources in the state. Its mission has intensified since Katrina, Preziosi said.

&#8220It’s going to take a lot of effort to save what’s there,” he said. &#8220But we’re working to help the owners stabilize the houses with volunteer structural engineers and architects.”

To help with the restoration, the Mississippi Heritage Trust has established the Historic Properties Recovery Fund.

A more extensive recovery package is being lobbied by The National Trust for Historic Preservation. It includes $60 million in grants to repair damaged historic structures and tax credits for primary residents of historic homes and historic commercial property.

In addition to Preziosi’s presentation, several awards were given at the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation luncheon. The recipients are: