BATON ROUGE – The recent severe cold weather translated into overtime for plumbers trying to repair damaged pipes.

One plumber, Joseph Pickens, said that the company he works with, Tiger Plumbing, received several calls about broken pipes following the freezing temperatures. The company received so many calls, in fact, that many of them were put on hold for another day.

"We got such a high-flood calls in at one time, we couldn't do anything until Monday morning to make sure everything was thawed out and then we knew what was busted and what was not," Pickens said.

Plumbers at Tiger Plumbing say that it could take them until the end of the week to complete all of the repairs that were called end over the weekend.

Home improvement stores were also busy as residents were out looking for materials to protect their pipes.

"It was a very busy place. Hard to find a parking spot, but still do-able. We had all the cash registers open and no major problems," David Stringfellow, Home Depot employee, said.

The first major freeze of the year is over, however plumbers, like Pickens, say that it is better to be prepared with insulation and piping tubes as cold weather can spring up in the area at anytime.