GULFPORT, Miss. -- After a three-hour flight over the Gulf of Mexico to survey the oil spill, U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor concluded, "This isn't Armageddon."

Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, said he spoke with friends in the morning who "think this is the end of the world."

"I believe, having gone through Katrina, this isn't Katrina," he continued. "It is obviously something that none of us wish had happened, but it is not Armageddon."

Taylor and Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, flew over the oil slick in a Coast Guard airplane on Saturday afternoon.

"The oil is naturally breaking up as it gets closer to shore," he said.

Taylor described some areas containing crude oil looking like "chocolate milk."

"The good news is that the farther you get from the site where the rig had been it is naturally dispersing between the sunlight and waves," said Taylor.

Taylor said he didn't see any oil in marsh areas during the flight that was about 1,000 feet in altitude.

View from above

Gulf oil spill



See

continuing coverage of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010

on

al.com

and

GulfLive.com

.

To keep track of the Gulf of Mexico oil slick, visit

www.skytruth.org

or follow its

Twitter feed

.

Deepwater Horizon Response Web site established by government officials. To see updated projection maps related to the oil spill in the Gulf, visit theWeb site established by government officials.

How to help:

Volunteers eager to help cope with the spill and lessen its impact on the Gulf Coast environment and economy.

Taylor said he thinks a team effort is the best method for a cleanup, when asked if authority over the spill should be nationalized.

Earlier Saturday, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Tupelo, said at a news conference in Fountainbleu that once the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is under control, and wildlife and wetlands are secure, the federal government will be asking BP Plc some tough questions.

"Clearly, they haven't gotten the job done, but I don't want to point fingers," Wicker said. "I think it's important that we take this like Mississippians do -- analytically and responsibly with resolve, purpose and determination. There are some allegations on a Washington level that the response wasn't quick enough. I'm not ready to say that. At this point, I want to get the flow of the oil stopped and keep it away from the shorelines. There will be a time for the serious questions."

BP operated the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that suffered a catastrophic failure, burst into flames and sank April 20, about 100 miles south of Pascagoula.

Wicker said federal officials had been led to believe that this type of failure could not happen.

"It's a realization that even with safeguards, things can go wrong," Wicker said. "There will be questions asked of the industry, the federal officials who were supposed to be inspecting the rig, and of those involved in the recovery effort.

"Clearly, they haven't gotten the job done, but I don't want to point fingers. I think it's important that we take this like Mississippians do -- analytically and responsibly with resolve, purpose and determination. There are some allegations on a Washington level that the response wasn't quick enough. I'm not ready to say that. At this point, I want to get the flow of the oil stopped and keep it away from the shorelines. There will be a time for the serious questions."

-- U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Tupelo

"Clearly, it is a major environmental disaster and we've been told it's the worst oil spill in decades."

Wicker said if offshore drilling ceases, "oil prices will go up and we'll have to import more oil."

Meanwhile, Bill Brown with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said MEMA is watching the spill closely and is coordinating with the state departments of Environmental Quality and Marine Resources, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"Right now, we're trying to get some of the sensitive areas protected and we're working to coordinate those efforts with the state and local levels," Brown said. "Otherwise, we really just don't know what we need, yet."

Brown said if oil does impact Mississippi shorelines, the agency's role could change.

"We could then be a provider to bring in federal help," Brown said. "If the disaster is large enough, then we could get a presidential disaster declaration through the governor's office. That opens the pipeline to the federal resources. For right now, we just have to wait and see what happens."