LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says 21,000 people across five counties have applied for Operation Blue Roof, a program that will install a free tarp on your damaged roof. However, only 60 have been installed as of Monday night.
There are several qualifications, but not everyone is eligible. If you have a clay, slate or asbestos roof then you are not able to apply. We asked Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday how he plans to help those ineligible people. He had another state leader answer the question.
"If people need disaster assistance at their home, we can certainly have them call that 1-800 number. Ask for that assistance at their home," said Kevin Guthrie, Director of the Florida's Department of Emergency Management. "That’s free assistance where we match up non-profit organizations to help us get those things done."
It's a program through FEMA, which you can find here.
Repeatedly, the governor has urged people to apply for the program. However, production is slow.
"They’re going to be added to the list of thousands of people that applied for it," said Tristan Starbird with Trademark Roofing.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told Fox 4 12,000 people applied for the program in Lee County alone. Again, out of the 21,000 across five counties, only 60 are installed. We asked what's the wait time on a tarp.
"We are fortunate to have two contractors working on installing blue roofs," said Andrew Kornacki with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a statement. "As soon as we reach peek production, we will be able to give a better estimate on time."
When it comes to an inspection, Kornacki said there are multiple factors pertaining to a wait time. This includes worker availability, number of requests and the weather.
"We have hundreds of Quality Assurance specialists in the field [and] currently are bringing in another 50 Quality Assurance specialists this week. We should be at full production by Saturday.”
At this time, he says there are no sheeting shortages. They are kept in a warehouse for when the need arises, Kornacki said. He added truckloads are arriving daily.
Starbird says you can get an adhesive tarp for certain sections of your roof if you do not want to wait for a blue tarp, but you will need to replace those shingles. If you want your roof done faster, he said stick to local businesses.
"Using local licensed professional contractors is their best solution for whatever they need fixing at their house," Starbird said.
