Posted on July 12, 2008 by Chip Merlin

No More Blue Tarps

In October of 2004, I flew into Pensacola with my exhibit and presentation expert, Jack Stein of TrialExhibits, and dubbed Pensacola the "Blue Tarp Town."  Many roofing contractors were already busy in Punta Gorda and across the central part of Florida through Daytona with Hurricane Charley repairs.  The rest were retained for work stemming from Hurricane Francis, which struck West Palm Beach, going across the center of the state, just north of Tampa.  By the time Hurricane Ivan walloped Escambia County and surrounding areas, there were few roofers and materials left, and the government issued blue tarps as a temporary measure for protection of the thousands of roofs damaged by Ivan.

 

In January of 2007, I was in the federal courthouse in Gulfport, Mississippi, and remarked to William Weatherly and Randy Santa Cruz that it was amazing how many blue tarps we could see from Magistrate Walker's office that were still on residential and commercial structures. I stopped counting at forty.  That was fifteen months after Katrina.

  This morning, I flew into Gulfport, and noticed how much green foliage was on the trees. The branches are fewer and many still look pretty ragged, but there is green everywhere and far fewer signs of Katrina's impact until you look within a half mile of the coast.  You see green trees there, but there are spaces and slabs where beautiful homes and businesses once stood. The Sun Herald recently ran a story about the Bay Waveland Yacht Club having a grand re-opening.  It looks beautiful. But it is certainly a long climb for those sailors to get up and down to and from the bar.  

 When my plane left Gulfport for Pensacola, I noticed only two blue tarps on roofs.  As we approached Pensacola, I counted one. However, I was astounded by the number of blue swimming pools. Downtown Pensacola was in shambles following Ivan.  All the business signs were missing and stayed that way for what seemed forever.  Indeed, I recall a hotel we we successfully represented in the Spring of 2005.  It just finished installing its sign in late June, when Hurricane Dennis struck in the first week of July.  On television, I saw the sign blow away again -- the Weather Channel captured it live. 

 Today, you really have to know what to look for to find businesses that have damage not completely repaired from Ivan or Dennis in Pensacola.  Times change and time heals. Memories fade. Much of the initial shock resolves as the visual reminders of the devastation slowly but certainly disappear. Certainly, areas of New Orleans, the entire Mississippi Coast, and the outer Islands of Florida all have many visual reminders of the 2004 and 2005 storms. Every disaster I have been to over the years has certain distinctions and bizarre scenes, sounds, or smells. I talk with adjusters about them years later as we reminisce. I suspect that only those there and viewing the devastated areas from the air could appreciate how weird it was to see a quilt of blue rooftops. Happily, the Blue Tarp Towns are now a mere memory.      

 

 

 

 

 

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