Cheap Marc Jacobs Hobo relieve pressure on the levees

"You hear so much — you hear everything from it's going to be nothing to it's going to be up to the roofs like Hurricane

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Katrina," she said.

At a meeting last Monday, Army Corps officials told residents, "Prepare for the worst. It's coming," Glenn said.

Many neighbors have already fled, leaving quiet homes ringed by walls of sandbags piled 2 to 3 feet high. Driveways along the street were empty. Along the lone two-lane road leading into Stephensville and skirting the lake, workers were piling up dirt- and sand-filled fortifications in case the lake overflowed. National Guardsmen had set up a small base at the Stephensville elementary school to help with any evacuations that might become necessary.

About 25,000 people live in the Atchafalaya River basin, and some have been warned the water could rise as high as 29 feet as a result of the Morganza Spillway's opening — a move calculated to relieve pressure on the levees protecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

In some areas, local officials have issued mandatory evacuation orders. Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said even without orders, people were pulling out of the area.