VERMILION PARISH — As one of the coastal parishes, Vermilion Parish sees their fair share of storms, and this weekend might not be any different.
Ahead of Tropical Storm Cristobal's arrival, the parish's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness has declared an emergency declaration.
"The declaration allows us to do what we need to, like sandbags, getting personnel, getting all our PPE and stuff ready for if we have to do a shelter," said office director Rebecca Broussard. "We don't plan on one because it's going east of us. We probably had more thunderstorms last week than this will cause, but you never know. We have to plan on worst case and hope for the best."
Several sandbag sites have been set up for the public throughout the parish.
- LSU AgCenter Cooperative Extension office, 1105 West Port Street, Abbeville
- Area 1 Barn, 13115 Mack Switch Road, Erath
- Area 2 Barn, 12002 Calvin Lebouef Road, Abbeville
- Area 3 Barn, 29429 Veterans Memorial Drive, Gueydan
- Area 4 Barn, 13531 Gladu Road, Kaplan
- Kaplan city yard, 412 S Herpin Avenue, Kaplan
Some people aren't wasting any time.
"Our house is pretty much elevated off the ground and whatnot, but my aunt's house is not, so we're just getting sandbags for her [to] try to help her out," said Ralph Guerin, who was filling sandbags at the Erath location.
Guerin recently moved back to Erath after living most his life overseas, so he's not sure what to expect with Cristobal.
"This is my first time, I'd say, of going to be in a storm environment and how the experience is," said Guerin. "I've seen it on TV. I say it doesn't look that bad, but we'll see. My mom says it is. [That's] another story."
Although Guerin has heard storm stories from his family, he says he isn't nervous.
"If it hits and it's really scary, I'll be like, 'Oh, this is actually more intense than I thought it would be,' but I'm just preparing for it, and we'll see what happens," said Guerin.
To follow Cristobal's track, click here.
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