Blue Tarps... Adam Daniel

Adam Daniel
Producer/Director
Blue Tarps/Gotcha Covered

When I was given the opportunity to produce this story I was initially under the impression that tarps were falling apart everywhere and that FEMA had dropped the ball. It wasn’t until we went down South of Hattiesburg did I start to realize that most of the complaints were blown out of proportion. Walking along the streets of Wiggins and Biloxi the videographer Jeremy Burson and I noticed that every home that had the reinforced plastic tarps on them were visibly in perfect form. In fact, we had to look quite hard to find a FEMA labeled tarp that was falling apart. We eventually found one that spelled FEMA and was not reinforced.

Everyone we talked with were quite supportive of the condition of their roofs. It seemed like people were making the best of it.

To me the houses that did have tarps that were tattered and in rough condition were not the same color as the FEMA tarps. In fact, most looked like the tarps that you buy at the hardware store. I’ve used those before for various other things, and I know from experience that they do not strand well in the weather.

While talking with Colonel Anthony Vesay of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we were shown some interesting information about the extent of the Blue Tarp Initiative. The farther North and East you went along the coast the more houses required their assistance. He stated that that was because those houses didn’t have to face the full power of the hurricane and were left standing with at least 50% of their roof to cover.

He also showed us the form that each homeowner was required to sign to show that the job had been completed on their roof. He then showed us a line in the form that clearly states that these tarps are for temporary solutions and that they do not stand behind it after 30 days from installation. He also showed the number of redo or call-back jobs that they had to fix. To me this was the final bit of information that debunked my original perceptions.

Later, I also had a telephone interview with All American Poly (www. allampoly.com) the manufacturers of FEMA’s blue tarps that was not included in my segment. They said that they supply three different types or weights of tarps ranging from lightweight unreinforced, to one that a 200 lb. man could walk across when stretched out. They rated their products to last 2 years under optimal conditions. Since we don’t live in optimal conditions here in Mississippi, I suggest everyone to go get their roof fixed.