(New Orleans, Louisiana) New Orleans residents anxiously awaited word Tuesday that it was safe to return to the city in the wake of hurricane Gustav.

The evacuation went smoothly and the levees largely held, limiting damage from the big storm. Still some areas of the Gulf coast sustained serious damage, and eight people died in the U.S. as a result of Gustav, which had killed 94 across the Caribbean.

As Gustav advanced towards New Orleans on Saturday, Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mass evacuation of the city, curtailing Southern Decadence, the largest gay festival in the South that was to have gone on throughout the Labor Day weekend.

It was the second time in three years that a major hurricane disrupted the massive party centered in the French Quarter.  In 2005, hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, forcing cancellation of Southern Decadence.

The festival, which takes over the French Quarter regularly, attracted more than 100,000 people and had been one of the city’s biggest moneymakers. This year attendance was lower as concerns mounted that Gustav was heading toward the Big Easy.

The party has had its detractors in a city known for hard partying. In 2003, the state legislature passed a new indecency law that bans public nudity.

The festival also has been the target of evangelical preacher Rev Grant E. Storms, who leads a small group of demonstrators through the throngs on Bourbon Street. In the wake of Katrina, some conservative church leaders said the devastation was the result of God’s wrath on gays.

Tuesday, city officials began examining damage from Gustav.  Power is out in some areas of the city. The sewer system was damaged, and hospitals are working with skeleton crews on backup power.

But residential areas appear secure, and drinking water is safe.