Hurricane Ian Was no Match for the Dempsey’s Home

By Cass Jacoby. 

The TAMKO shingles on Laura and Justin Dempsey’s home withstood over 150 mph wind for 10 hours, allowing them to focus on helping others recover post hurricane rather than trying to repair their roof. 

Cape Coral, Florida was a direct hit for Hurricane Ian last September. Homeowners Justin and Laura Dempsey understand this first-hand. Their home was hit with pounding rain and up to 155 mph wind speeds for 10 hours straight. As the storm passed, they joined many homeowners in praying their roof would stay intact. 

Telephone poles were snapped, fences were obliterated and Laura even saw a port-o-potty get launched by wind and fly like a missile past their house. But as the neighborhood stepped into the wreckage following the storm, Laura and Justin were amazed. Their home didn’t have a shingle out of place and no impact damage. The only part of the roof that was affected was a single line of hip and ridge shingles missing in a few spots on their house (see above picture of the ONLY damage on their home).  

Justin and Laura owned the only house in the neighborhood that didn’t need a tarp. Amazed, they started to do some research to find out what kind of shingle their roof had that could perform this well. In the builder specs they found their answer: TAMKO Heritage architectural shingles. 

If high wind application instructions are followed, TAMKO Heritage shingles are rated for up to 130 mph, but, in this situation, they were able to withstand 150 mph wind speeds coming from all directions. A near Category 5 hurricane has hit their home, and the only repairs they needed were completed in under an hour.  

Better yet, despite everything being shut down and phones not working, Laura and her family were amazed to find that she could easily access TAMKO’s website and reach out to representatives to find materials and contractors to complete these repairs.  

Because their roof was basically unscathed from the hurricane, Laura, Justin and her family had the time to go to Punta Gorda and across Cape Coral to help those who were far more impacted by the storm. They helped with rebuilding efforts in Pine Island and Sanibel Island. Laura says that she wouldn’t have been able to help out so much if she had her own home to worry about.  

“TAMKO literally helped save lives during Hurricane Ian,” Laura wrote in an email to TAMKO about her deep gratitude for the engineers, fabricators, leadership, local distribution and team at TAMKO for their commitment to excellence.  

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About Cass  

Cass works as a reporter/writer for RoofersCoffeeShop, AskARoofer and MetalCoffeeShop. When she isn’t writing about roofs, she is putting her master's degree to work writing about movies and dancing with her plants.