Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. Robert Warren Green told WWL's Tommy Tucker that population density and socio-economic factors play a role in determining which households will be the first to get a blue roof.
Green said the process for determining who is first is “complicated”. There are many factors involved, including the density of requests in an area.
“We have to make sure that we can keep those contractors as busy as possible,” said Green, who cautioned that this doesn't mean they are writing off less populated, rural areas.
“We don’t want you to feel like you are going to be left to the back of the line because you are not in a major metropolitan area.”
The Corps is also weighing other considerations.
“Also involved is the factors such as the need of the area, social economic factors that play into how the requests are prioritized,” said Green.
The Lt. Col. sounded optimistic about the program’s ability to begin quickly ramping up. Operation Blue Roof now features three different contractors and Green said the “minimum” number of expected installations a day for each will be 400.
“Obviously that could be affected by weather or other environmental impacts,” said Green, who added that over 55,000 homes have applied for the “fiber-reinforced, industrial-grade sheeting.”