2023 hurricane preparedness guide: Homeowners eligible for roofing retrofitting grants

The Louisiana Fortified Homes Program (LFHP) was funded for $30 million during the 2023 Louisiana Legislative Session.

Through this grant program, eligible Louisiana property owners will be granted up to $10,000 towards the total cost of replacing or retrofitting their property's roofs to meet or exceed fortified standards.

With the $30 million secured, there is a potential for 30,000 homes in Louisiana to be fortified.

Homeowners qualify if their properties are in good repair, unless it sustained weather-related damage. They must also have proof of a wind insurance policy on the home, and flood insurance if in a designated National Flood Insurance Program floodzone.

Eligible homeowners will be required to find and pay for all evaluators, inspection and permits required by law while participating in the program.

The evaluator can be chosen by the homeowner, but must be certified in Fortified standards. Contractors must also be LFHP-approved.

This legislation was introduced at the 2022 Louisiana legislative session by State Rep. Michael Huval. The legislation was passed and written into law, but was not funded.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said at a news conference earlier this month that the funding of LFHP was strongly supported on a "broad, bipartisan basis."

For Huval, encouraging Louisiana policyholders to modify their homes to meet fortified standards will benefit everyone. "One of the best ways we can prepare for hurricanes is to use stronger materials and construction methods when building or repairing our homes," he said. "I believe this program will help a lot of folks resist storm damage in the near future, with potentially reducing residential property insurance costs for the entire state in the long term."

The fortification standards were adopted from the Insurance Business Home Safety (IBHS) organization, an industry-backed independent non-profit that researches safety methods to strengthen property safety. While not building codes, the widely accepted standards are proven to secure roofing and further protect homes from potential storm damage.

The Fortified standards are broken down into three steps: "Nail it Down, Seal it Up and Lock it Down."

The steps include small improvements, such as using stronger and longer nails placed closer together, covering exposed seams with tape roof cement to seal roof deck systems and ensuring efficient flashing and water intrusion resistant roof covers are installed.

Louisiana's adoption of these standards were inspired by the success of Fortified standards in Alabama, which has seen more than 35,000 homes improved.

Senate Insurance Committee Chair Kirk Talbot said Louisiana building codes had been strengthened and put into effect at the beginning of 2023.

"That almost brought us up to the fortified code level, about 95 percent," he said.

Any gaps — such as using ring shank nails for shingles — were recently updated by the Louisiana Code Council.

"From the outside looking in — you know, insurance companies around the country looking at Louisiana — we have really stepped up our building codes," he said. "It shows them that we recognize we have a problem, we recognize that we are a big target for hurricanes and named storms making landfall and then we recognize that and we are doing something about it."

Two other pieces of legislation were introduced to support LFHP during the session, Huval said.

One such bill — House Bill 451— will authorize insurance companies to provide actuarially justified discounts and insurance rate reductions for residential and commercial buildings built to, or retrofitted to, fortify standards.

He said this legislation mandates discounts and requires insurers to submit rate filings that provide fortified discounts to policyholders. "This will insure policy holders that put in the time, money and effort to build or retrofit their structures to fortify standards reap the benefits of the decision and will encourage more property owners to build to the fortify standards outside of the grant program."

House Bill 110 will require insurers to offer an endorsement to a homeowners policy that will upgrade policyholders' non-fortified roofs to fortified standards if the home experiences storm damage that requires roof replacement.

Under the legislation, insurers will be permitted to charge an additional amount of premium if policyholder choses to add endorsement to policy. The launch date for LFRP has yet to be announced.