[16] Hurricane Gustav regained a pronounced eye as it made landfall on Haiti, with 75 mph (121 km/h) winds,[17] near the town of Jacmel.

[21] However, the storm's movement slowed, and continued interaction with nearby Haiti, combined with the incursion of mid-level dry air from the northeast, resulted in further weakening during the day on August 27.

[27] On August 30, Gustav made landfall twice on Cuba: first, on Isla de la Juventud and then on the mainland near the community of Los Palacios in Pinar del Río Province.

[4][29] By the early hours of August 31, Gustav entered the Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph (217 km/h) and minimum central pressure of 958 millibars.

[30] During August 31, the storm moved in a northwest direction slightly losing its strength (despite passing over a shortened Loop Current) with sustained winds at 115 mph.

[38] On August 25, Carnival Cruise Lines diverted one of its ships from Montego Bay, Jamaica, to Mexico in order to avoid the storm.

[38] Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) readied response systems in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav affecting the island.

[43] On Monday, September 1, Cuban officials reported that Gustav's 155 mph (249 km/h) winds damaged or destroyed 90,000 homes in Pinar del Río, and knocked down 80 high-tension towers.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said that it was possible thousands of people who need city help could start leaving on Saturday, as the first wave of a full-scale evacuation.

[54] Wary of repeating the mistakes of Hurricane Katrina, authorities chose not to use the Louisiana Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center as emergency shelters.

[1] Also, parish officials started a last-ditch effort to save Belle Chasse by constructing a sand levee across Louisiana Highway 23.

Pilots at Lake Charles in west Louisiana, and Sabine Pass in east Texas, also were making plans as of August 30 to halt traffic.

The originally scheduled kickoff time of 4 pm CDT would have conflicted with the start of contraflow lane reversal, and Interstate 10 is a key evacuation route through Baton Rouge.

[73] Hotel and business closures related to Gustav had impact on New Orleans's Southern Decadence celebrations, which were scheduled for August 27 through September 1, 2008.

Water technicians and trailers of portable generators, pumps, spare parts and testing equipment were readied along the Gulf Coast and neighboring states to respond to the emergency.

[89] The United Kingdom sent HMS Iron Duke and RFA Wave Ruler to provide emergency assistance and assess the damage caused by Gustav.

[101] Gustav made landfall in Haiti at approximately 1 pm EDT on August 26, about 10 miles (16 km) west of the city of Jacmel.

[4] Some 2,100 houses were destroyed and another 8,150 damaged, causing an estimated 7,200 people to live in temporary shelters, including churches, community centers and schools.

More than 1,100 people spent the night in government shelters in the three islands as high waves and heavy winds battered the chain, the National Emergency Operations Center said in a statement.

[110] On Saturday August 30, 2008, Gustav made landfall on mainland Cuba near the community of Los Palacios in Pinar del Río—a region that produces much of the tobacco used to make the nation's famed cigars.

[111] At least 300,000 people were evacuated from Gustav's path as 155 mph (249 km/h) winds toppled telephone poles and fruit trees, shattered windows and tore off the tin roofs of homes.

The 211 mph (340 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.

[4] Sunk in the Gulf as an artificial reef in 2006, the USS Oriskany (CV-34) shifted and was buried 10 feet deeper in the ocean floor after Gustav passed over.

By Friday, September 5, response teams from Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi were assisting efforts to restore water and wastewater service.

[138] The LSU football team postponed their game, scheduled for September 6, against Troy University and rescheduled it for November 15 after damage was caused to Tiger Stadium.

The maximum amount in Arkansas was at Hamburg, where 11.25 inches (286 mm) had fallen,[145] making Gustav the third wettest tropical cyclone to affect the state since 1972.

[148] Because of the expected U.S. landfall, governors and some other political leaders from Louisiana and other states chose to stay home from the 2008 Republican National Convention.

[149] As the hurricane approached the coast, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain canceled all non-essential opening-day festivities at the convention[150] and said that he might give his acceptance speech via satellite from the affected area.

"Two days ago ... out of 11 international press reports devoted to Cuba, none told about the hurricane that moved toward our island and the feverish efforts of our Civil Defense," Castro writes.

Instead, the news services, "echoing a Yankee press organization dedicated to the media war and campaigns against Cuba," reported about the defection of TV actor Yamil Jaled.