By Mike Rizzuto

Managing Editor

Hurricane Gustav, the seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane season, roared through the Lake Arthur/Gueydan area this past Labor Day, leaving destruction in its wake, but not nearly as much as anticipated.

Early assessments in the immediate area included down trees, branches, and tree limbs. Statewide, at least four deaths were attributed to Gustav.

Gustav formed on the morning of August 25, 2008 about 260 miles southeast of Haiti, causing serious damage there, as well as in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Cuba before making landfall as a Category 2 storm along the Louisiana coast near Cocodrie.

Gustav then made its way almost due northwest through Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane, but still caused massive damage and destruction throughout the Pelican State.

As of September 3rd, Gustav was officially out of Louisiana and into Arkansas, diminishing its power to Tropical Storm status.

But before that time, approximately 115 deaths were attributed to Gustav in the Caribbean and the United States.

Estimates of monetary damage in the United States bordered in the $20 billion range, making it one of the ten costliest storms in U.S. history.