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Thursday, June 22, 2017

Using Special Nails to Save Roofs — and Dollars

MOBILE, Ala. — New roofs are coming to Africatown, a hamlet of crumbling shotgun houses amid ancient pecan trees northwest of Mobile Bay.

The replacements, many of which will go to the neighborhood’s poor and aging homeowners, are being paid for by a first-of-its-kind state grant program that aims to lower homeowners’ insurance rates and reinforce Alabama homes against future windstorms.

Alabama officials, like state and local leaders around the country, expect disaster recovery costs to continue to grow as people live in vulnerable areas and climate change increases the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. At the same time, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is considering a plan that would shift more recovery costs to the states.

In response, some states are taking steps to ensure that communities can better survive disasters, efforts they hope will lower recovery costs down the line.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As a home inspector, I have witnessed that a damp crawl space with no moisture barrier can rust out every nail holding the plywood to the roof rafters whether ring shank or not. Yes, re-nailing plywood that is found to have rusty nails during the tear-off every reroof should definitely be done, but I seriously doubt that the shaft of the nail in the rafter is the failure point during a hurricane or tornado.