Don’t let the hot weather slow you down because the heavy rain is bound to return. The push to keep the Vermilion River flood-ready continues even during these days of drought.

Jeanne Fitzgerald of Lafayette lives yards away from the Vermilion River and agreed the flood mitigation efforts, while it is dry, might not be a bad idea.

“You kind of ride up and down the river because the way the river goes it’s kind of back and forth, back and forth,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald’s backyard is sort of the river’s neighbor. “We lived in this house for about ten years,” she added.

Fitzgerald has no problem using these dry days to prep for heavy down pours. When the topic of flood mitigation comes a knocking, for some people the flood of 2016 comes to mind.

“We are along the Vermilion. We flooded back in 2016 but not quite as high as that since,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald doesn’t mind seeing these drought days go toward something productive. If she could have one flood mitigation wish, it would be to dredge the river.

“Dredge the river and make sure there is plenty of room underneath there to get the water through, on down and out into the Bay of Vermilion,” Fitzgerald said.

There are projects the local government is undertaking to help with flood mitigation especially in areas with repeated flooding. One such project is the detention pond along Surrey.