NEWS: Billboards Replacing Worn Tarps On Florida Homes Damaged By Hurricanes, page 1

Florida was recently hit with 4 hurricanes in rapid succession, causing extensive damage. FEMA has since run out of the blue tarps they were offering to home owners and businesses which had damaged or destroyed roofs. The tarps, due to sun, wind and rain have since started to wear out. One Florida resident, Virginia Barentine, was quoted as saying hers was shredded in last months strong winds. With so much damage, roofers are spread thin and many people can't afford to have their roofs fixed or replaced.

Enter Lamar Advertising Company and The United Way teaming together to bring people old, discontinued billboards to replace the worn blue tarps. The thicker vinyl used is resistant to most forces of nature and should last up to 4 years.

www.local6.com
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials have said they have no more to give out, leaving many low-income homeowners to plead with United Way and other organizations for help as they still wait for repairs.

Enter Bobby Switzer, vice president of operations for Lamar Outdoor Advertising. He is offering to donate vinyl strips from about 900 discontinued billboards and says he can get thousands more if needed.

The billboard vinyl is a thicker, heavy-duty polyvinylchloride that can take the weather's abuse day in and day out.

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The residents and business owners are told they can put the billboards on face up or down. On top of that, these are discontinued ads; Lamar is not going to be making a profit off of this except through the added publicity gained by helping out people in need. Many residents have said they would be more than happy to put the boards face up so long as they don't advertise alcohol, tobacco or anything indecent.

The owner of Higgins Automotive, a local business, sees these as a fantastic opportunity to get a roof over their business while not diverting contractors from people's homes who, as the owner Allan Weaver said, "People with houses, they needed roofs worse than we did, so we didn't get a FEMA blue roof. Now that we have these we'll wait until summer or even next year so the people who need a roof at home can get one first."

This is going to allow people to get their homes repaired while at the same time businesses can open and not have to worry about their merchandise being destroyed by the elements. I especially liked the picture of Dana Morris's house; it now depicts KISS on her roof.

Related News Links:
www.washingtonpost.com
www.pensacolanewsjournal.com
www.foxnews.com
www.newsday.com

[edit on 2-16-2005 by junglejake]

[edit on 2-16-2005 by junglejake]