'The feeling was ominous dread': Geraldo Rivera remembers Hurricane Gustav's 2008 strike on Louisiana
In September, 2008, Hurricane Gustav roared ashore along the Louisiana coastline bringing wind gusts over 100 mph and several inches of rain to the Gulf Coast region.
Ever wondered what it's like to cover a major hurricane?
Hurricane Gustav was the second most destructive hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. FOX Weather’s Craig Herrera sits down with Geraldo Rivera on a special one-on-one interview.
NEW ORLEANS -- In September, 2008, Hurricane Gustav roared ashore along the Louisiana coastline bringing wind gusts over 100 mph and several inches of rain to the Gulf Coast region.
The storm formed off the coast of Africa on Aug. 25 and swirled across the Atlantic, eventually making landfall in Haiti, then again while skirting the Jamaican coast and eventually reaching Category 4 status as it struck western Cuba.
(FOX Weather)
As the storm took aim at the Gulf Coast, 1.9 million people evacuated the Louisiana coastline, according to the National Weather Service.
FOX News' Geraldo Rivera was one of the many reporters covering the storm as it approached, as it was coming just three years later after the devastating Hurricane Katrina.
"The feeling was ominous dread, because we had all lived through (Hurricane) Katrina in 2005," Rivera told FOX Weather. "Katrina was such a trauma, for not only New Orleans, which was destroyed, but to the whole nation. Our psyche was, 'is this going to happen again?' "
Gustav weakened a little as it approached Louisiana, eventually making landfall the morning of Sept. 1 near Cocodrie, which is 70 miles southwest of New Orleans, as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph.
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Image 1 of 21Richard and Hope Leboeuf look at downed power lines in front of their home in Houma, Louisiana, after Hurricane Gustav moved inland, Monday, September 1, 2008. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 2 of 21Irma Watson stands next to a dwelling damaged from Hurricane Gustav on September 3, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. US President George W. Bush toured storm-scarred Louisiana Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Gustav as hundreds of thousands who fled the storm began coming home. AFP PHOTO/MATTHEW HINTON (Photo credit should read Matthew HINTON/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 3 of 21A fallen church steeple is seen on September 2, 2008 in Greenwood, Louisiana. The steeple was toppled when Hurricane Gustav passed through the area the previous day. AFP PHOTO/Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 4 of 21A fallen tree lies on a house on September 2, 2008 in Houma, Louisiana, one day after Hurricane Gustav hit the area. AFP PHOTO/Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 5 of 21A car floats in the storm surge of Hurricane Gustav at Ken Combs Pier at Courthouse Road and U.S. 90 in Gulfport, Mississippi, Monday, September 1, 2008. (Photo by James Edward Bates/Biloxi Sun Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 6 of 21A seeminly intact car stands partially covered in the ruins of a destroyed trailor home September 2, 2008 in Greenwood, LA, one day after Hurricane Gustav passed through the area. AFP PHOTO / DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 7 of 21Temporary sandbags, put in place in the days before Hurricane Gustav struck New Orleans, helped protect a weakened section of levee along the Industrial Canal from flooding into the city. (Photo by Travis Heying/Wichita Eagle/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 8 of 21Waves generated by the storm surge from Hurricane Gustav crash over the newly-rebuilt Ken Combs Pier in Gulfport, Mississippi on Monday, September 1, 2008. (Photo by James Edward Bates/Biloxi Sun Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 9 of 21Boats washed on a dock by Hurricane Gustav sit damaged on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, in Long Beach, Mississippi. (Photo by James Edward Bates/Biloxi Sun Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 10 of 21Matthew Morgan, 13, stops on his bicycle in front of a house where two people were killed after Hurricane Gustav tore through Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tuesday, September 2, 2008. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 11 of 21Desallemaneds, LA - SEPTEMBER 1: Most of Hurricane Gustav's damage to Louisiana was mostly wind driven as seen on this photo of the sign of Airboat Rides by Arthur in Desallemaneds. (Photo by Essdras M Suarez/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 12 of 21High water floods the parking area and marina of the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi during Hurricane Gustav, Monday morning, September 1, 2008. (Photo by William Colgin/Biloxi Sun Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 13 of 21Hurricane Gustav on 1st September 2008 over the coast of Louisiana, US. True-colour satellite image using MODIS data., Hurricane Gustav, Louisiana, Us, In 2008, True Colour Satellite Image (Photo by Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 14 of 21Residents survey damage near a fallen tree September 3, 2008 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. President George W. Bush toured storm-scarred Louisiana Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Gustav as hundreds of thousands who fled the storm began coming home. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 15 of 21A fallen tree is seen in the garden area in front of the State Capitol building on September 3, 2008 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. President George W. Bush toured storm-scarred Louisiana Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Gustav as hundreds of thousands who fled the storm began coming home. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 16 of 21IN SPACE - SEPTEMBER 1: In this satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Gustav strikes the U.S. Gulf Coast at 15:15 UTC on September 1, 2008. Gustav made landfall this morning as a Category 2 storm near Cocodrie, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. (Photo by NOAA via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 17 of 21The carport on a gas station lies on the ground on September 2, 2008 in Houma, Louisiana. The damage to the station was cause by Hurricane Gustav the previous day. AFP PHOTO/Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 18 of 21A telephone pole lies on the side of a store on September 2, 2008 in Houma, Louisiana, one day after Hurricane Gustav hit the area. AFP PHOTO/Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 19 of 21A fallen tree lies on a house on September 2, 2008 in Houma, Louisiana, one day after Hurricane Gustav hit the area. AFP PHOTO/Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 20 of 21One day after Hurricane Gustav, a car stands desroyed after a tornado touched down late Tuesday, September 2, 2008 on Avenue A of Jefferson Parish in Westwego, LA, causing the bricks from the top of the building to fall and crush the vehicle. US President George W. Bush, whose response to killer Hurricane Katrina in 2005 drew widespread condemnation, will visit Louisiana on Wednesday, August 3, to survey the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. AFP PHOTO / Matthew HINTON (Photo credit should read Matthew HINTON/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 21 of 21A fallen tree lies over a road on September 3, 2008 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as a result of Hurricane Gustav. President George W. Bush toured storm-scarred Louisiana Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Gustav as hundreds of thousands who fled the storm began coming home. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
A 117-mph gust was recorded near Houma, with a 91-mph gust clocked in Baton Rouge and 72 mph at Belle Chase.
But one again, storm surge, caused by Gustav's winds pushing the waters of the Gulf of Mexico inland, was a significant problem in parts of Mississippi and Louisiana.
At Bay St Louis in Hancock County, Mississippi River water levels were nearly 10 feet above normal on the morning of Sept. 1. 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.
But would it be a repeat of Katrina? Federal, state and local governments and even private firms had built new levees to replace the failed levees that led to catastrophic flooding with Katrina.
Geraldo Rivera: Hurricane Gustav Special Promo
Join FOX Weather on Saturday and Sunday Feb. 5-6 at noon, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm Eastern for our 2-hour special: "Geraldo Rivera: Hurricane Gustav Special."
Rivera stood right next to one of the new levees as the storm raged.
"Most vivid memory I had of the event: We went up to the levees and by putting my hand on them, you could feel the pulse, you could feel the surge… pushing against the levees, and there was always the question of whether they would hold," Rivera said. "It was almost like a monster on the other side of the wall, just pushing, pushing to get in.
"It was unforgettable."
The levees held, but the storms still managed to do significant damage to the region. Gustav was a slow mover once it made landfall, and the storm brought torrential rains over a three-day period to the region. Larto Lake, Louisiana had the top rainfall report at 21.00 inches with 11.22 inches in Brusly and 8.15 in Livingston. Baton Rouge and New Orleans had between 5-6 inches of rain.
Rainfall from Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
(NOAA)
Seven people were killed in Louisiana -- five from falling trees in the wind while two others were killed by an EF-2 tornado in Evangeline Parish, according to the NWS. There were 41 other deaths in Louisiana indirectly associated with Gustav. Four others were killed in Florida from drowning in rip currents.
Overall, including the Caribbean, the storm killed 112 people. Damage estimates for the United States totaled just over $4.6 billion.
Rivera will share his experience covering the storm during a 2-hour show on FOX Weather called: "Geraldo Rivera: Hurricane Gustav Special". It will air Saturday and Sunday at Noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
You can always watch FOX Weather via our app or click here to find how to access the stream on TV.