Louisiana fortified roof program gets doubled amid overwhelming response

The state of Louisiana now has a very good idea of how popular the fortified roofs grant program is.

Last week, nearly 12,000 people in the coastal region registered for the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program lottery that was originally going to select 300 people to receive a grant of up to $10,000 for a fortified roof.

Due to the overwhelming response, Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple doubled the number of grants for this period to 600.

Temple says there’s plenty of funding to accommodate that number.

“Last year, the state was very gracious and allocated $30 million, of which about $15 million of that has been spent,” says Temple. “The state also allocated another $15 (million) for the current fiscal year.”

Temple says before they up that number even further, they want to make sure the limited number of inspectors can handle the load.

“There’s also so many people that are certified inspectors, so you don’t want to overload that portion of the process,” Temple says. “If these inspectors are able to handle the 600, and I think they can, then we’ll continue to try and do more allocations during the next round.”

As for feedback on the fortified roofs themselves, Temple says it’s been nothing but positive.

“Their comments were that they had a peace of mind knowing that their roof was fortified, and so they felt more comfortable that their shingles were going to stay on, and their contents were going to stay dry, and they were going to be able to get back in their house faster,” says Temple.

Those who have been selected in this round of grants for the Fortified Homes Program are in the process of being notified.

Temple says they’re constantly looking for ways to improve the process.

“This was a test enrollment to see how the open enrollment period went,” Temple says. “And then we’re also looking at how do we continue to try and target so that the most citizens get the biggest benefit.”