FEMA blue - The Color of Money?

[funkybutt]

From blue tarps to debris removal, layers of contractors drive up the cost of recovery, critics say. Top-tier contractors say it's the only way to get the work done.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1135841150161300.xml

The blue-tarp roof, a symbol of hurricane damage in south Louisiana and Mississippi as recognizable as curbside debris, may wind up as a post-Katrina emblem of government waste reminiscent of the Pentagon's fabled $435 hammers and $640 toilet seats.

Depending on the extent of damage and the size of the roof, the federal government is paying anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $5,000 to install a typical tarp. The cost to taxpayers to tack up a covering of blue vinyl is roughly the same, on a per-square-foot basis, as what a homeowner would pay to install a basic asphalt-shingle roof.



--snip--


Critics acknowledge some administration is needed, and that the sheer scale of the various jobs leads to increased overhead costs. Still, the difference between the price of the contract and the money collected by those doing the work appalls them, they say.

[ixion]

1. got that? In the new 'Murika, for the cost of a new roof,

you get a tarp.

Staggering. :crazy:

[TomInTib]

2. And now it turns out these are highly flammable. New Year

fireworks could prove interesting.

[BOSSHOG]

3. In an incredible twist

there is a burn ban on in south Mississippi so residents cannot burn piles of branches etc piled on their property but fireworks are okay and as you say blue roofs are flammable. Lets celebrate the New Year by burning down what Katrina did not destroy.

[pitohui]

5. they are already setting off fireworks here

have been since xmas day!

i realize the various law enforcement agencies are severely stressed but i sure wish an example could be made of people setting off fireworks at a time like this

st. bernard parish officials say that idiots have actually asked for permits to set off fireworks, it's like, catch a clue, they do not have any $$$ or personnel for fighting fires

common sense, not always that common

[pitohui]

4. they're exaggerating just a little from the sound of it

i'm not sure the gap between tarp and new roof is as slim as they claim, my insurance co. paid $1,600 to put a blue tarp on my roof in 2003, and the size of the disaster and the shortage of materials was nowhere near katrina levels, altho there was certainly a problem w. shortages

they paid way more than that to put a new asphalt roof on the house -- close to $4K, post-katrina, i've heard of people being quoted way more for a new roof if they actually want to get in line and get the roof fixed

sure, roofs can be tarped more cheaply, in fact mine was originally tarped cheaply, of course it immediately started leaking and causing further rain damage into the house, which is why the insurer paid for a real tarp job

as far as katrina, since we had a horrible drought in following rita and all thru the month of october, yeah, if you could guarantee everyone's roof would be fixed in october, the cheap jobs would have been fine, hell, no tarp would have been fine, because it didn't freakin rain

the reality is that for many people, the tarp will be their only roof for many months and prob. over a year for many people

so i just can't get as exercised abt the blue tarp issue as i'm supposed to be

if the reporters on this story had to live w. only a blue tarp over their possessions for a few months, they may have had a different take on the quality of job they'd want done on their house, it's easy to criticize that someone else you don't know is getting something too expensive and too high quality

[funkybutt]

6. The state got a bill from FEMA

if you recall, it was pretty staggering. There has got to be a way to put blue roofs on houses without paying so much for them. This article is about federal mismanagement of money during a "conservative" regime. I wouldnt doubt it at all if the reporter on this story did actually get a blue roof. We couldnt get one b/c our house has asbestos shingles.

[pitohui]

7. asbestos shingles

i don't think the state should have to pay the bill from FEMA, it's ridiculous and anyway you can't get blood from a turnip, but that's another issue, good tarp jobs that actually hold out water are just not in fact cheap in my humble experience

i think at some point the state will have no choice but to go bankrupt if the feds seriously think we can give them all this money

as far as asbestos roofs --

a friend in mid-city did somehow get a tarp on his roof, even though it's an asbestos roof, but his roof is a total loss, if your roof is somehow not a total loss and they think it can be patched, apparently they won't tarp because somehow the act of tarping it makes yr roof a total loss? do i have that right? what did you do? were you able to get a new roof quickly?

he can't replace his roof, insurance says it will cost $25K for all repairs, roofer says the roof alone will cost $40K because of size and shape of the house, it's in a historic district

since he lost everything financially in katrina, he's going to have a blue roof for years unless something else happens

it makes you wonder why we even buy insurance