LAPLACE, La. — With frigid weather on the way, some Hurricane Ida victims have to take a few extra steps to get ready. Many are still displaced from their homes, five months since the storm.
In LaPlace, many families are living in campers outside their homes.
"We came back and everything was flooded," Rey Pimentel said.
Several feet of water filled his home during Ida, damaging nearly everything inside.
"It hasn't been easy. Insurance, they give a hard time," he said.
Since the storm, his family of six has made a camper their temporary home.
"It's already five months. It's crazy, it's been crazy," Pimentel said.
After insurance delays, workers are finally inside to make his home livable again.
"Slowly but surely," he said.
Over the next few days, his focus will shift from repairs to keeping his family warm.
"It's going to be cold all day, but at least we'll be ready," he said.
The workers fixing up his home are from Baton Rouge so he told them to stay home Friday, knowing roads may get slippery.
"I don’t want nothing to happen to them," Pimentel said.
His family will escape the cold in the same camper they've been living in since Ida.
"We're going to stay together, nothing more important than being together," he said.
He explained that it can get extremely chilly inside the camper so he's getting heaters ready.
"We're trying to prepare for tomorrow so I went and refilled the propane so we can put the furnace in there to be warm," Pimentel said. "We stay positive, you know?"
St. John the Baptist Parish government officials are warning residents that even a light glaze of ice on bridges can make driving dangerous.