Hurricane Gustav Facts and History

• Gustav was the seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season

• On August 31 the NHC predicted with 81% probability that Gustav would remain at Category 3 or above on September 1, but on September 1 at 9:30 a.m CDT (1430 UTC) the center of Gustav made landfall in the United States along the Louisiana coast near Cocodrie as a Category 2 hurricane, dropping to a Category 1 hurricane four hours later

• Gustav went from a tropical depression to a hurricane in 14 hours, tying Hurricane Humberto's record of 14 hours in
  2007

• 60,000 were evacuated overnight on August 29 from Cuba's western coasts. Gustav was projected to impact Cuba on the afternoon of August 30. Additional evacuations were ordered on the afternoon of August 30 as Gustav strengthened to a strong Category 4 hurricane, particularly in the low-lying Pinar del Rio Province where 190,000 were evacuated

• Cuban authorities declared that Gustav was the worst hurricane to hit the country in 50 years. Authorities called the storm damage the worst since 1956. The 212 mph (341 km/h) wind gusts registered in the city of Paso Real de San Diego were the highest in Cuba's history, according to the provincial newspaper, the Guerrillero. Winds were so strong that the weather station instruments broke. Electricity was cut to a large part of the region as well

• By the afternoon of August 31, 1.9 million people had evacuated southern Louisiana, with 200,000 being residents of New Orleans alone, making it the largest evacuation in the history of Louisiana

• The National Weather Service reported 14 confirmed tornadoes spun by Gustav from Biloxi, Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama. Top winds measured at the surface in Gustav were at the mouth of the Mississippi River at Pilot's Station East, which reported sustained winds of 91 mph, gusting to 117, at 4 am CDT. Top waves were 34 feet at 2 am at Buoy 42040, south of Dauphin Island, Alabama.