Hurricane Gustav
NFIP flood claims
- By paid claims (4,395), Hurricane Gustav is the 20th highest of 42 named storms covered here, and the 6th lowest of 42 by median paid claim in 2024 dollars.
- Louisiana holds 75.4% of the storm’s paid claims and Mississippi 20.9%; 3 states are listed.
- Median paid claims of the storm run from $4,875 in Mississippi to $12,034 in Louisiana.
- In 2024 dollars (CPI-U), its median paid claim, $14,538, is 42.6% below the middle value of the storm medians ($25,316).
Source: FEMA, OpenFEMA NfipClaims (v3, data as of 2026-09-09, retrieved 2026-10-12); CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items (CUUR0000SA0), annual average (BLS Public Data API v1, annual averages 2005-2025, retrieved 2026-10-12). Not an official federal report.
Landfall and storm report
The National Hurricane Center’s HURDAT2 best track of Hurricane Gustav (AL072008, retrieved 2026-10-12) records 6 landfalls, 1 of them in or near a US county. It came on 2008-09-01 at 15:00 UTC, as a category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 kt: HURDAT2 position 29.2N 90.7W, rounded to 0.1°; county containing or nearest it: Terrebonne Parish, LA.
| Date | Time (UTC) | Position | Strength | Wind (kt) | Pressure (mb) | County containing or nearest the position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-08-26 | 18:00 | 18.1N 72.8W | category 1 hurricane | 70 | 992 | no US county |
| 2008-08-28 | 18:00 | 18.0N 76.2W | tropical storm | 60 | 984 | no US county |
| 2008-08-29 | 02:00 | 17.9N 77.2W | tropical storm | 60 | 987 | no US county |
| 2008-08-30 | 18:00 | 21.6N 82.5W | category 4 hurricane | 125 | 943 | no US county |
| 2008-08-30 | 22:00 | 22.4N 83.1W | category 4 hurricane | 135 | 941 | no US county |
| 2008-09-01 | 15:00 | 29.2N 90.7W | category 2 hurricane | 90 | 954 | Terrebonne Parish, LA |
National Hurricane Center report
From the NHC Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Gustav (retrieved 2026-10-12):
“Gustav moved erratically through the Greater Antilles into the Gulf of Mexico, eventually making landfall on the coast of Louisiana.”
“It briefly became a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and caused many deaths and considerable damage in Haiti, Cuba, and Louisiana.”
NFIP paid building claims in Hurricane Gustav
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: event: Hurricane Gustav, year of loss 2008; 4,395 paid claims; median $9,978, half of them between $3,155 (Q1) and $27,591 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $14,538, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 4,395 |
Paid claims by state
| State | Paid claims | Median paid |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 3,314 | $12,034 |
| Mississippi | 918 | $4,875 |
| Alabama | 126 | $5,786 |
Counties with the most paid claims
The storm’s paid claims are spread over many counties: the first, Jefferson Parish, LA, holds 13.4% of them, ahead of Hancock County, MS and Rapides Parish, LA.
| County | FIPS | Paid claims |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Parish | 22051 | 590 |
| Hancock County | 28045 | 445 |
| Rapides Parish | 22079 | 440 |
| Ouachita Parish | 22073 | 304 |
| St. Tammany Parish | 22103 | 292 |
| Orleans Parish | 22071 | 291 |
| East Baton Rouge Parish | 22033 | 288 |
| Washington County | 28151 | 279 |
| Terrebonne Parish | 22109 | 165 |
| Harrison County | 28047 | 157 |
Questions about Hurricane Gustav flood claims
How many flood insurance claims were paid after Hurricane Gustav?
4,395 NFIP building claims carrying FEMA’s Hurricane Gustav event label were paid (event: Hurricane Gustav, year of loss 2008), with a median of $9,978; half of them fall between $3,155 and $27,591. These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Which counties had the most Hurricane Gustav flood claims?
Jefferson Parish, LA (590), Hancock County, MS (445) and Rapides Parish, LA (440), across 3 states listed.
What is the median Hurricane Gustav flood claim in 2024 dollars?
$14,538 once each claim is adjusted with the CPI-U, against $9,978 in nominal dollars: a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Related tools
Paid claims of Hurricane Gustav are not repair estimates: to estimate the cleanup of a flooded basement from published cost-guide rates, use the basement water damage repair cost calculator; for water removal and drying after any water loss, the water damage and mitigation calculator.
To set these figures against every State on one claims window, amounts paid, not repair cost: NFIP paid building claims by state.
Before using these figures
A storm total counts NFIP-insured buildings with a paid claim, not all the damage of the storm. Method and limits.
Source and notice
- Storm = floodEvent "Hurricane Gustav" with yearOfLoss 2008; window of the extraction: yearOfLoss 2005-2025.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).