NEW ORLEANS, La.—The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed its final blue roof Monday in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of Operation Blue Roof emergency response for Hurricane Ida.
In total, USACE installed over 33,600 blue roofs across 25 parishes in support of the state of Louisiana and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “I’m so proud to say we’ve installed our final blue roof and provided temporary relief to so many in need,” said USACE Hurricane Ida Response Team Commander Col. Zachary Miller. “We know survivors in southern Louisiana still have a long way to go to recover, but we were honored to play a small role in helping so many in their recovery efforts.”
Those efforts included having more than 800 USACE personnel from across the country volunteer to support the mission. “Those volunteers were on the ground when we completed our first temporary roof installation in New Orleans Sep. 8, and we continue to have our staff here 55 days later – taking care of people,” said Miller.
At the peak of our mission, our contractors maintained a daily average of approximately 1,500 temporary roof installations per day. One of the primary goals for USACE during a disaster is to provide homeowners with fiber-reinforced sheeting through the Operation Blue Roof program, to cover their damaged roofs until permanent repairs are made. This program is a free service to homeowners and protects property, reduces temporary housing costs, and allows residents to remain in their homes while recovering from a storm.
This program is for primary residences or a permanently occupied rental property with less than 50 percent structural damage. Vacation rental properties are not eligible for this program. Flat roofs or roofs made of clay, slate or asbestos tile do not qualify. All storm debris must be removed for the roof to qualify.
Survivors can report blue roof installation quality concerns by calling our customer service team at 888-ROOF BLU.
The customer service number will remain open to address initial installation quality concerns through the end of day on Nov. 7.