Landfall near Cocodrie
Maximum sustained winds at landfall = 105 mph
Minimum central pressure at landfall = 954 mb
Direct deaths = 112 (7 in Louisiana)
Indirect deaths in Louisiana = 41
Damage in U.S. = $4.618 billion

First big threat after Katrina
We were all fortunate it never regained the intensity it had over western Cuba.

quote:
Due to the threat of significant storm flooding associated with the landfall of a major hurricane along the Louisiana Coast, widespread evacuations took place in south Louisiana from August 29th through the 31st. Preliminary estimates indicate that 1.9 million people evacuated from south Louisiana in advance of Hurricane Gustav.

Gustav eventually made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana, or about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans, on Labor Day morning, September 1st, as a strong Category Two Hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph. Gustav continued to move inland across south-central Louisiana as a hurricane, dropping to tropical storm status Monday evening.

Wind damage was significant in areas from the south-central coast of Louisiana through greater Baton Rouge with this hurricane. Power was knocked out for days, some areas longer, across this region, with numerous trees down and other related wind damage. A peak wind speed of about 91 mph was reported at Ryan Field in Baton Rouge, 108 and 117 mph near Houma, Louisiana, and 72 mph at Belle Chasse Naval Air Station.

Two fatalities and one injury were the result of high winds toppling a large tree into a house in East Baton Rouge Parish. A 45 year old woman also was fatally injured in Livingston Parish when high winds toppled a large tree onto her mobile home. Rainbands associated with the weakening Gustav continued over the region through Tuesday, September 2nd. Tornadoes were reported near Abita Springs and Bush in St Tammany Parish, and Westwego in Jefferson Parish on Tuesday afternoon and evening. Damage included 35 to 40 structures damaged around Westwego, including 15 total losses.

Storm surge was a significant problem in parts of Mississippi and Louisiana as Gustav moved onshore. At Bay St Louis in Hancock County, Mississippi,water levels were nearly 10 feet above normal on Monday morning. Storm tides of 12.00 feet were measured at Black Bay in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, 10.50 feet at the Industrial Canal in Orleans Parish, and 9.50 feet at Bayou Dupre in St Bernard Parish

Major beach erosion was observed near Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish with 4.49 feet and Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish with 4.48 feet of surge. Additional flooding occurred around Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas as southeast and east winds pushed water into the lakes thus parts of St John the Baptist, Ascension, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and St Tammany Parishes. Storm surge in the tidal lakes also caused water to back up into the rivers that drain into the lakes including the Amite, Comite, Tickfaw, Natalbany, Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Bogue Falaya, and Atchafalaya Rivers in Louisiana, and the Jourdan, Wolf, Biloxi, Tchoutacabouffa Rivers in coastal Mississippi.

Finally, heavy rainfall affected parts of the area, including greater Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In the period from Sunday the 31st through Wednesday the 3rd, there were reports of 11.22" in Brusly, West Baton Rouge Parish, 8.11" in Mandeville, St Tammany Parish, 8.15" in Livingston, Livingston Parish, and 8.91" in Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi.

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1879 Hurricane - Category 3

Landfall mouth of Atchafalaya River
Tracked from Morgan City to Napoleonville to Donaldsonville to Gonzales/Prairieville to Walker
Maximum sustained winds at landfall = 125 mph
Minimum central pressure at landfall = 945 mb
Deaths = 1 (seems low but that is what has been recorded)
Damage = ~$500,000 in 1879 (~ $16 million today)

quote:
The cyclone produced brisk winds along the Gulf Coast of the United States from Brownsville, Texas, to St. Marks, Florida. In Louisiana, the Morgan City area experienced the worst impacts. Fifteen cabins, two churches, and a sawmill collapsed and sugar houses suffered damage. All streets in the city flooded after Berwick Bay rose approximately 9 ft.

Meteorologist David Roth noted in 2010 that "the wind was so intense between Morgan City and Jeanerette that trees were defoliated as if it was winter." The hurricane also destroyed sawmills in the latter. Many trees throughout Iberia and St. Mary Parish. Strong winds in Abbeville toppled a number of homes, fences, and trees, one of which partially deroofed a church. Heavy rainfall caused flooding that swept away bridges.

Farther inland, more than half of cotton and most corn crops in St. Landry Parish were ruined. Dwellings also collapsed in Baton Rouge, Bayou Sara, Lewisburg, and Mandeville. Throughout Louisiana, the hurricane caused approximately $500,000 in damage and killed twenty mules, five cattle, and one person. In Mississippi, heavy rains overflowed waterways in the southwestern portions of the state, such as the Amite River, causing significant crop losses, including ruining an estimated 50% of cotton crops in Liberty.