00:00With shovels and bare hands, people in Houma, Louisiana say they're not
00:08taking any chances with Bertha. They're filling sandbags to protect their homes
00:17and help their older neighbors. The elderly couple get sandbags they were
00:22about an inch away from getting water all of the rest of their street flooded
00:25for the last tropical storm. Arthur also spun up 15 tornadoes across the Gulf
00:30Coast, including one that ripped off roofs, damaging homes and businesses in
00:35Houma. This community is still marked with scars from Hurricane Ida five years
00:40ago. My co-workers still have people living in like trailers or campers still
00:46from Ida. So there's houses like getting remodeled and now we're in hurricane
00:50season again. While people are filling up sandbags to protect their homes,
00:53officials are lowering water levels at nearby canals. They're also working on
00:58emergency repairs at a levee that was damaged by a storm two years ago. We
01:03have a couple of places for Hurricane Francine, some areas to give way that
01:08basically weaken the levee system. So we're placing these super sacks in front
01:11of those areas to make sure they're protected for this incoming storm. Bertha
01:15is not expected to pack the same punch that Arthur did. Locals say they'd rather be
01:21safe than sorry after being caught off guard by the last storm. Just in case to
01:25have them and then you know it's it's better to get it earlier in the season
01:29anyway because you never know around here. In Houma, Louisiana, for AccuWeather, I'm Bill Waddell.
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