Grants and programs for Gulf Coast homeowners
The hard parts of owning a home on the Gulf Coast, in one place. We do not run any of these programs and we do not decide who qualifies. Each page organizes one question, points you at the institution in charge of the answer, and carries the date it was last checked against that source.
Roof grant programs, by state
Four of the five Gulf states will pay toward a stronger roof, and the fifth runs a system worth understanding instead. Every one of them is administered by a state agency, not by us.
Mississippi's $10,000 FORTIFIED roof grant
Strengthen Mississippi Homes, run by the Mississippi Insurance Department. Who the current phase covers, how to find out if that is you, and the pages where the rules actually live.
Alabama's $10,000 FORTIFIED roof grant
Strengthen Alabama Homes, run by the Alabama Department of Insurance: the longest-running program of its kind and the one the other Gulf states copied. The rounds, the counties, and where the announcements happen.
Louisiana's $10,000 FORTIFIED roof grant
The Louisiana Fortify Homes Program: up to $10,000 by lottery in 25 eligible parishes, run by the Louisiana Department of Insurance. How the rounds work and the one signup worth making between them.
My Safe Florida Home: the free inspection and the $10,000 grant
Florida inspects your home's wind resistance for free, and can put up to $10,000 toward strengthening it. The two grant types, the priority groups, and why the inspection is worth having either way.
Texas windstorm coverage, and the roof grant that does not exist
Texas has no statewide FORTIFIED grant. What it has instead: coastal building standards, the WPI-8 certificate, TWIA, and insurer discounts, and knowing the system saves real trouble.
Insurance rules and discounts
Rules that cost real money to find out about late, and credits most homeowners never think to ask for.
Finding a Texas WPI-8 certificate
TDI's search or TWIA's lookup, depending on when the work was done. Who needs a certificate, what an inspection costs, and what to do if a house does not have one.
The flood insurance 30-day rule
A new flood policy generally takes 30 days to go into effect, which makes May 1 the real hurricane season deadline. The rule, its four exceptions, and where to look up your flood zone by address.
Your hurricane deductible, in dollars
On this coast it is usually a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat amount, which means most homeowners do not know theirs. Two minutes and one piece of paper.
Roof age, and what your insurer is looking at
The roof is the part of a coastal house an insurer thinks about first. What actually gets looked at, and what you can change before the renewal notice arrives.
Wind pools and insurers of last resort
TWIA, Citizens, Louisiana Citizens, MWUA and AIUA: what a wind pool is, when it is the answer, and the page in each state that decides. Membership is sometimes the gate to a grant.
Wind mitigation insurance discounts
Insurers across the Gulf states give premium credits for construction that resists wind, and most homeowners never ask. The state-by-state map, and the one phone call that finds out.
After a storm
The week when the decisions are expensive and everybody is making them at once.
This shelf grows deliberately: a page goes up when its facts have been checked against the primary source, not before, and a program with a deadline goes stale if nobody re-checks it. If there is a program or a rule you want mapped out, say so through the Etsy shop.