The welcome mat at Joseph and Helen Biagas' back door was outlined with sandbags Friday morning.

Biagas, 72, planned to add a second layer by nightfall Friday, with help from a son and grandson — anything to keep water from getting into her north Lafayette home with the threat of a deluge approaching from Tropical Storm Barry.

"I have a plan. Then I have a backup plan," she said, talking about how quickly predictions can change. "Right now they (meteorologists) don't know what's what."

Her north Lafayette neighborhood flooded during the torrential three days of rain of August 2016. Several homes and storage buildings took on water, but the worst part was that the water didn't drain for at least a week.

The large drainage ditch known here as a coulee that runs behind the Biagas house was full then, as was the Vermilion River, and both were in need of clearing before the record rainfall. So the water stayed, stagnant. 

Three years later, Barry has Biagas concerned. She didn't get water in her home in 2016, but the couple did end up leaving by boat as the water got closer and then didn't recede.

"My blood pressure is probably high," she said Friday. "I'm not really worried. I'm concerned, mostly for the kids."

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Her grandkids are "always in and out" of the house, she said. Three were with them Friday morning.

Helen started getting sandbags Monday, even before the storm had an official name.

"The minute the man said you can go get sandbags, I called my son," she said.

Her husband, 73, fell off his roof last week while cleaning his gutters, so Biagas and their son lined the storage shed in the backyard by the coulee with bags and put more on the patio by the back door.

"I did my best and I prayed for the rest," Helen said.

She said some in the neighborhood laughed at her early preparation. But after having to rebuild their shed and throw away a lot of stuff three years ago, she was going to be ready this time.

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"I want to try to slow it (the water) down," she said. "I don't think it can stop it."

Now they have as much as possible placed on shelves in the rebuilt shed, and the bottom few feet of the walls have no drywall. That makes it easier to clean up after any flooding without having to gut the walls again, Biagas explained.

Their next-door neighbor Ronald Jean, too, had sandbags lining his door and storage shed, taking no chances. He said his yard was full of water for two weeks in 2016.

Another neighbor, Cheryl Watson, was planning to get more sandbags while she was out Friday, worried after getting water in the back of her home last time the neighborhood flooded.

Nearby Cheryl Dupuis and her family were more focused on supplies for the storm. Her home is higher, so she's not worried about flooding so much as keeping electricity.

"I borrowed a Coleman stove, so at least we'll be able to cook," she said from her front doorway.

Her grandsons peeked around them as her husband added, "We picked up the kids' (outdoor) toys so they don't blow away."

"We're as ready as we'll ever be," Dupuis said.

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