Business View Caribbean | October 2020

68 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN OCTOBER 2020 “After the hurricane, the municipalities came to us for immediate debris clearance, restoration of utility plants, setup of emergency shelters and the demolition of potentially dangerous structures. Then, we were contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for what is known as the Blue Roof Program, providing emergency temporary roof repairs for homes that lost or had substantial damage to their roofs. The tarp provided by the federal government, and its installation procedures are superior and more durable than a homeowner-installed tarp. In the case of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, the program repaired over 50,000 homes, protecting people from the elements so they may continue to live in their homes until the roof is permanently repaired.” “One of the great challenges in these roofing missions is the post-storm chaos,” he adds. “Everybody is under a great deal of stress; you’re lacking essential resources, such as electric power, water, telecommunications, and fuel. The supply chain is affected and materials are scarce, especially on an island. All these challenges are augmented by the high rate of production that is required by the Federal Government. Once contracted by the Corps of Engineers, we had to begin repairing roofs four days after the award, and in the case of Hurricane Maria, within 10 days, we had to complete 300 roofs per day.” “We engaged over 200 four-to-five-man crews with vehicles, materials, plus all the resources and software required for tracking, quality control, documenting and reporting. It was an extremely challenging mission, and we performed favorably. In fact, we considerably exceeded the production of all other contractors, despite them having prior disaster response experience. Our local presence provided greater rapport with local providers and employees. “We performed over $32 million worth of work in about 10 weeks. For short of three months, we worked almost non-stop. We took a short recess to go home, sleep a few hours, and come