In the wake of Hurricane Katrina's destruction, she recalled showing a map depicting the path of Hurricane Ivan to defense officials in 2004. The map showed the hurricane coming within 50 miles of Ingalls shipyard, the Northrop Grumman facility in Mississippi that builds destroyers and other ships for the Navy.

Snowe was making an argument that the country needs to maintain two shipyards with the capacity to build the next generation of Navy warships, the DD(X) destroyer, in case of a disaster. Only Ingalls and Maine's Bath Iron Works have that capacity. A cost-cutting proposal by the Department of Defense had called for consolidating all the DD(X) work at one yard.

Her point, in showing the map, was to underscore the vulnerability of Gulf Coast facilities to hurricanes. Now her point seems prescient.

"She said to me, 'This is just unbelievable,'" said Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for the Maine senator, as the extent of the devastation unfolded. "Last year, we were talking about Hurricane Ivan. And now this tragedy."

Northrop Grumman is still assessing the damage at Ingalls, which is based in Pascagoula at the edge of Mississippi Sound. The Navy has confirmed that one destroyer under construction- the USS Kidd- was tossed by a 20-foot surge wave into the pier at Ingalls and damaged. The hull was breached and the ship flooded, although crews were able to remove the water and repair the hull's gash within 24 hours.

But floodwaters and high winds ruined the shipyard's administrative offices and much of its fleet of forklifts and trucks. No one knows when the yard will be operational.

According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricanes of Katrina's scale are expected to hit Pascagoula once every 57 years.

The analysis of hurricane vulnerability was submitted in a 1996 report from the Congressional Research Office during a debate about where to build submarines. It shows Category 4 hurricanes- Katrina's status at landfall- are likely to come within 75 nautical miles of Pascagoula once every 57 years. For New Orleans, it's once every 66 years; Norfolk, Va., once every 230 years; Newport, R.I., once every 150 years; and Portland/Bath, Maine, once every 500 years or more.

Navy spokeswoman Lt. Tamara Lawrence said defense officials were first concerned with the well-being of military and civilian personnel at Ingalls and would deal with the damage to ships next. Three destroyers and two amphibious assault ships are under construction at the yard. She said it was unlikely the Navy would shift the work elsewhere, but would instead adjust the delivery dates on the Navy vessels.

"Given the scope of this, we're going to work with Northrop Grumman and make sure the safety and well-being of their personnel are taken care of," said Lawrence.

One of the destroyers, the Forrest Sherman, and one of the amphibious ships, the San Antonio, are being used to berth and feed National Guard workers.

The winner-take-all proposal to consolidate the DD(X) work was stymied by an amendment Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins and their Mississippi counterparts added to the supplemental defense bill last spring. The provision prohibits the Navy from spending any money to study the winner-take-all strategy, which effectively derails it.

The federal defense authorization bill, which draws a blue-print for future U.S. defense, is still before Congress, as is the defense appropriations bill, which releases the money for defense projects. The Navy has requested funding for between eight and 12 DD(X) destroyers. Ferrier and Jen Burita of Collins' office said both senators are poised to continue the fight to split the DD(X) work. The bills should come up for a final vote this fall.