CAPE CORAL, Fla. — One of the biggest questions many homeowners had after Nicole: did my tarp hold up? To prevent tarps from ripping off, many put sandbags on their roofs.
Fox 4's housing reporter Kaitlin Knapp went around Lee County Thursday, checking in with homeowners with a tarp on their roof.
"You could hear the wind through the windows. It was really hitting it," said Isabella Grelik-Mammouri. "We were worried it was going to come off and the wood was going to come off and it was going to be pretty bad."
Grelik-Mamouri's roof has a tarp on it after Hurricane Ian ripped a good amount of shingles off. The concern went beyond the outside of the home.
"We had water damage into our attic," she said. "There was actually water that was coming in during the storm. We were worried because we have an open roof right now."
It's a statement so many have said in southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian. Many homeowners in Cape Coral said their tarp held up after Nicole.
In Fort Myers, we checked in with Janelle Garcia. She told us earlier this week her home had a leak in it from Hurricane Ian, bringing her concern for Nicole.
"With the rain we might find more leaks, you never know with that kind of stuff," Garcia said.
Luckily, Garcia said her roof held up during Nicole and nothing leaked again into her home.
While homeowners had to worry about their roof, Grelik-Mammouri and her family grew concerned about the debris pile across the street from their house.
"We were kinda worried that if the winds were strong enough that it would end up on somebody’s car," she said.
None of the debris hit the house, and the tarp held up.
"Roof survived — no damage," Grelik-Mammouri said.
There were several homes around Cape Coral that had ripped tarps, many in the southeast.
If you did suffer damage to your tarp and need help replacing or repairing it, you're encouraged to call the Crisis Cleanup Hotline at 1-800-451-1954.
