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Hurricane Inspection Program Scrambling To Meet Deadline

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

TAMPA - If you've never heard of My Safe Florida Home, the state's free hurricane inspection program, chances are you soon will.

Officials are scrambling to meet a legislative requirement of 400,000 inspections completed, and they only have four months to do so.

As of today, 388,193 inspections have been performed since state lawmakers created My Safe Florida Home in 2006. The program contracts with nine companies to do the work; their deadline to finish all inspections is June 30.

Residents statewide can expect a marketing blitz between now and then.

Tami Torres, program administrator, said Tuesday that the nine firms have been ordered to complete 1,500 inspections apiece in the next 90 days. If successful, the program would exceed its goal.

The firms can solicit people who are on a state waiting list or recruit homeowners who have never requested an inspection.

"We just want to make sure we meet the Legislature's goal," she said.

Torres said one reason for the shortfall is that thousands of people who requested a free inspection did not respond to the firms' multiple attempts to schedule an appointment.

My Safe Florida Home was created to help residents prepare for storms by giving free inspections and awarding grants up to $5,000 to make safety improvements.

Legislators allocated $250 million to the state Department of Financial Services, which administers the program, to complete 400,000 inspections and award 35,000 grants.

The grants are limited to residents within the state's wind-borne debris region, which typically extends inland about a mile from the coast. Much of Hillsborough County is outside that boundary. The grants match what homeowners spend, up to $5,000, to replace windows and doors and better secure their roofs.

The program is also short of meeting its goal for grants awarded. As of December, about 14,000 people had yet to request a reimbursement because improvements had not been completed. In some cases, the work hasn't started.

Any money not allocated by June will go back into the state's general fund, meaning homeowners who haven't completed improvements will lose their chance to recoup some of the cost.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is asking the Legislature to allocate an additional $25 million to perform more inspections and award more grants.

If the program fails to meet its current goals and spend its initial allocation, however, that request likely would be denied.

• INSPECTION INFORMATION: Residents wishing to schedule a free hurricane inspection can contact the My Safe Florida Home program at 1-866-513-6734. They also can contact a state-approved inspection firm directly.

To find the inspection firm in your area, go to: www.mysafefloridahome.com/InspectionFirmList.asp.

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com.

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