Hurricane Preparedness - Your Roof

There are some things you can do for your roof now that may help to keep a roof over your head if a bad storm comes your way:

1 - Get the roof inspected and needed repairs done.
2 - Install hurricane roof straps, or roof anchors..

If your roof hasn't been inspected in a number of years, it's time. A roofing nail can work its way loose over time, and some shingles may loose or in need of being replaced. These represent weak areas that could be exploited by the prolonged high winds of a hurricane or tropical storm.

Roof Anchors can reduce the effect of lift from high winds and may can help your root to stay in place.

While neither of these things will guarantee that you'll have no damage at all, they can help to make damage less than it might otherwise have been.

... IF you can find one!

If a roof is damaged, inclement weather will inflict further damage, making the situation worse. Depending on the initial damage, and the weather that follows, additional damage could extend to the walls, and even the furniture and other things inside the home.

If you can get a tarp over the damaged portion of your roof right away, you can prevent or drastically reduce this additional damage.

The GOOD NEWS is that FEMA's Operation Blue Roof will install one of their blue roof tarps on your home for FREE.
The BAD NEWS is that you may or may not qualify, and if you do, you may or may not be one of the first recipients of one of their tarps.

After Hurricane Ike, 26,000 people applied for the Blue Roof Program. Three weeks later, 18,000 of them still had not gotten their blue roofs yet. The longer you wait to get that temporary protection on your roof, the greater chance there is for additional weather damage. All it takes is rain.

Photo: A worker installs a blue tarp on a roof (in the public domain, from FEMA)

So, you've heard FEMA will come in to hurricane affected areas and put those blue tarps on roofs for free, right? And you're not gonna worry, cause they'll take care of everything right away for you, right? THINK AGAIN!

FEMA Operation Blue Roof -

Here is how it's worked in the past. When an area is hit by a hurricane, after approval, FEMA will cover roofs with tarpaulins. HOWEVER, there are some things you should know if you plan to depend on FEMA.

FIRST - Your roof must still be structurally sound, with less than 50% damage.
THEN - You must go to a designated Right-of-Entry Center in your area, fill out a form, and get on the list.
THEN - You wait. They will prioritize and go to hardest hit areas first. (You're GAMBLING that it doesn't rain in the meantime)
ALSO - You're making a BET no shortage of tarps occurs before they get to you.

Both rain and tarp shortages HAVE happened in the past, but you really are the lucky type, aren't you? It couldn't possibly happen to you, could it?

SOLUTION: Purchase your own tarp ahead of time, like this 30' x 30' Vinyl Tarp
from American Family Safety. Maybe (like insurance) you'll be lucky enough that you'll never need it. But what if you do?