GRAND ISLE, La. (WGNO) — Few people know Grand Isle better than Leoda Bladsacker. That’s because it’s virtually all she’s known. Not only was she was born there, but the midwife who helped deliver her once lived next door to the house where Bladsacker lives now.
“I could walk to my aunt’s, to my uncle’s, to by grandparents’. Everybody lived in this area,” Bladsacker told WGNO News.
But living on the island also comes with its hazards during hurricane season.
“For Betsy, our house broke in half,” Bladsacker recalls of the 1965 storm. More recently, she had to repair her home from Hurricane Ida. She evacuated for both storms. So, when hurricane season arrives, Bladsacker knows she needs to be ready to go yet again.
“The month of June is when I prepare. I pick up everything that has to be picked up,” she said.
While Bladsacker may ride out some of the smaller storms that pass through, she knows to leave for the big ones. So, she goes into each hurricane season with a sense of calm because she knows that even if another big one comes her way, she’ll return.
For more on why Bladsacker would never want to live anywhere but on Grand Isle, watch the video at the top of this story.
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