HOUMA, La. — Storm preparations are well underway in Terrebonne Parish ahead of Tropical Storm Francine. Residents across the parish started sandbagging Monday ahead of the severe weather.
Jerry Buquet is one of many Terrebonne Parish residents sandbagging, he said, "We're getting ready for the storm, we're going to put the sandbags in front of our door in case the water rises it doesn't get in our home."
He went on to say, "Now our ground is so saturated from the rain we had, you know I am scared if we get a lot more rain the water could rise."
Parish President Jason Bergeron says last week the parish got 12 inches of rain in 32 hours. He says his greatest concern is how wet the ground is right now, and says flood gates are being closed and they're trying to drain out as much water as possible.
"It is a concern, anytime anything interrupts normal life we're dealing with, we've probably had four or five rain events this year," said the President.
He went on to say, "Our bayous are full, the ground is saturated, so we're going to continue pumping down, we pump to what we call a pre-storm level."
Residents like Kim Chauvin said, who aren't in flood zones are picking up shovels to help those who are at risk of flooding. She said, "I'm out here, doing sandbags for other people, that's what we've been doing since yesterday, probably bagged about 500."
She went on to say, "We're always nervous after Ida... It's very fresh in our memories of what we've gone through with Ida so people are taking it seriously."
As the storm approaches, those in Terrebonne Parish are praying their homes will be spared. Buquet said, "That's all we could do, pray for the best."
