HOUMA, La. – “This is it. This is the one. But I’m not evacuating,” said 63-year-old Barry Rogers, who has lived in Louisiana his entire life.
He said Hurricane Ida will be the big one for Houma, Louisiana, a coastal city in Terrebonne Parish.
But Rogers said he’s not leaving.
“This is gonna be bad. This is gonna be the worst thing that happened to this parish,” said Rogers.
He added: “This is gonna be if it comes in like they say, and this is gonna be devastating.”
Rogers said he has heard about monster storms. He even rode out Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
But, Rogers told KPRC 2 he’s not evacuating for Ida.
But why?
Rogers’ dad is 85 years old and he doesn’t want to evacuate. So Rogers will stay in town. He also wants to keep an eye on his fishing boat. It’s his livelihood. He said he will ride out the storm on his boat.
At 5:57 p.m. on Saturday night, he was hustling to secure his boat with minutes to spare before the 6:00 p.m. curfew.
“If you don’t have no business around here. Get out of here,” said Rogers.
How does he feel knowing that he may come eye to eye with Ida?
Rogers said: “If you’re not scared, you’re stupid.”