PORT BARRE, La. — Water is rising in Port Barre off Bayou Courtableau, and residents are being urged to prepare to evacuate.
Chelsie Anderson lives off Bayou Courtableau with her husband and two kids. She was living in Vermilion Parish during the flood of 2016 that affected much of Acadiana. This time around, she says it feels different.
"But now being an adult, having my own kids, I can kind of see what my parents went through," Anderson said.
They have four dogs, two cats, over 40 chickens, and a bunny on their property. With more mouths to feed than most, preparation looks different for her and her husband.
"I honestly, I did my normal grocery run. My biggest fear is my animals. If it floods really badly out here, I'm not gonna have access to feed stores. And that's gonna be a bigger problem. My husband's big into fishing — we'll eat, but stuff for our animals, it's a different story. And so that, that in itself can be very stressful," Anderson said.
From making grocery runs to knowing where they'll go and how, she says they're thinking ahead as much as they can.
"We have two children who live with us. They, I think, are freaking out more over it than anything. My fear isn't necessarily the water right now, it's what's in the water. As the water rises, when you have young children and when you have a lot of pets, uh, you fear gators, garfish, snakes, things like that getting into your home or attacking something you love," Anderson said.
"This is our home. This is the only one we have, so if we lose these camps out here, what are we gonna do afterwards? What are we gonna do to make up for that? And I think for us, we're just not there yet," Anderson said.
For residents further in town, it's uncertain how much they might be affected. The town says if you have water in your yard now, it's best to make arrangements.
