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Ike’s wake: Waiting for repairs requires patience
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| Damaged signs along the I-10 feeder road near Dairy Ashford. |
By CRAIG GILDEN
The hurricane season of 2008 is officially over but Ike’s effects are still visible everywhere.
Although more than two months have passed since Hurricane Ike devastated the Gulf Coast, many Houstonians are still dealing with the complex issues that the massive storm created.
Blown-down fences, damaged roofs, missing signs and large amounts of debris remain problems for many residents.
While these issues can be stressful to deal with, most residents are choosing to take a "it will get fixed, when it gets fixed" approach to the remaining damage. When thousands remain without housing, the damaged fence in the backyard or missing company sign seem to be relatively minor issues.
Even though residents understand that damages are inevitable, everyone would like to see things get fixed as quick as possible. For those looking to replace or fix fencing or roofing, patience will have to be a key virtue as many companies have been overwhelmed with the amount of calls.
Calls at Bellaire Roofing increased from 10-20 a day to nearly 300 a day following the storm. The calls are now down to between 50-60 a day.
“We were getting calls from 100 miles away,” said Larry Kennedy of Bellaire Roofing. “We had to start screening calls and only take the ones from zip codes in our area.”
“We have enough crews now that we should be able to get estimates done within 72 hours and get the job done within two weeks,” said Kennedy. “Our company has been around a long time and half of our calls are from previous customers, which has helped.”
Waiting on adjusters to come out to sites has also been an issue in getting work done for roofing and fencing companies. “Insurance companies were backed up about a month for a while,” said Kennedy. “They are just now catching up.”
Fencing companies are in a similar situation as numerous homes with wood fencing around the backyard have suffered damage. Houston area fencing companies are reporting waiting lists of four to six weeks.
Another result of Ike has been that numerous billboards and store front signs saw significant damage. Putting these signs back up may take time and money.
A Houston city ordinance says that if the cost of repairing the weather damage is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign, the billboard has to come down. After the storm, the city sent inspectors to the street to “red tag” hundreds of signs and billboards that they considered too damaged.
Alvin Wright of Houston’s Public Works and Engineering department said that around 250 signs have been red tagged and the city has received approximately 40 applications to repair damaged signs. Damages include broken or leaning poles, tilted structures and other damage.
With large quantities of debris scattered throughout the city, city cleanup crews have been forced to work overtime to pick up the pieces.
In order to help with the process, Mayor Bill White announced the "Neighbors helping Neighbors" program, which will assist elderly or physically challenged residents remove debris from their backyards to the curb.
Volunteers will man the streets to help their neighbors clean up their yards. For more information on the program go to www.houstontx.gov or call 832-393-0971.
The city had to suspend recycling and heavy trash pickup programs immediately after Ike, but those are gradually returning. The city resumed its recycling program Oct. 27 and the heavy trash schedule started up again this week.
More Post-ike coverage, 5c
Although more than two months have passed since Hurricane Ike devastated the Gulf Coast, many Houstonians are still dealing with the complex issues that the massive storm created.
Blown-down fences, damaged roofs, missing signs and large amounts of debris remain problems for many residents.
While these issues can be stressful to deal with, most residents are choosing to take a "it will get fixed, when it gets fixed" approach to the remaining damage. When thousands remain without housing, the damaged fence in the backyard or missing company sign seem to be relatively minor issues.
Even though residents understand that damages are inevitable, everyone would like to see things get fixed as quick as possible. For those looking to replace or fix fencing or roofing, patience will have to be a key virtue as many companies have been overwhelmed with the amount of calls.
Calls at Bellaire Roofing increased from 10-20 a day to nearly 300 a day following the storm. The calls are now down to between 50-60 a day.
“We were getting calls from 100 miles away,” said Larry Kennedy of Bellaire Roofing. “We had to start screening calls and only take the ones from zip codes in our area.”
“We have enough crews now that we should be able to get estimates done within 72 hours and get the job done within two weeks,” said Kennedy. “Our company has been around a long time and half of our calls are from previous customers, which has helped.”
Waiting on adjusters to come out to sites has also been an issue in getting work done for roofing and fencing companies. “Insurance companies were backed up about a month for a while,” said Kennedy. “They are just now catching up.”
Fencing companies are in a similar situation as numerous homes with wood fencing around the backyard have suffered damage. Houston area fencing companies are reporting waiting lists of four to six weeks.
Another result of Ike has been that numerous billboards and store front signs saw significant damage. Putting these signs back up may take time and money.
A Houston city ordinance says that if the cost of repairing the weather damage is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign, the billboard has to come down. After the storm, the city sent inspectors to the street to “red tag” hundreds of signs and billboards that they considered too damaged.
Alvin Wright of Houston’s Public Works and Engineering department said that around 250 signs have been red tagged and the city has received approximately 40 applications to repair damaged signs. Damages include broken or leaning poles, tilted structures and other damage.
With large quantities of debris scattered throughout the city, city cleanup crews have been forced to work overtime to pick up the pieces.
In order to help with the process, Mayor Bill White announced the "Neighbors helping Neighbors" program, which will assist elderly or physically challenged residents remove debris from their backyards to the curb.
Volunteers will man the streets to help their neighbors clean up their yards. For more information on the program go to www.houstontx.gov or call 832-393-0971.
The city had to suspend recycling and heavy trash pickup programs immediately after Ike, but those are gradually returning. The city resumed its recycling program Oct. 27 and the heavy trash schedule started up again this week.
More Post-ike coverage, 5c
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