Resiliency

Oklahoma to Offer Grants Encouraging Storm-Resistant Roof Installs

State’s Insurance Department promotes ‘Fortified’ roof installation with grants that could offset costs 10-15% beginning in 2025

Oklahoma’s State Insurance Department (building pictured) will begin a grant program modeled after Alabama, offering homeowners a stipend to install more weather-resistant Fortified roofs. — Oklahoma’s State Insurance Department will begin a grant program modeled after Alabama’s, in which stipends will be offered to homeowners installing a Fortified roof, helping offset the expense of the costlier roof system.
— Image courtesy of the Oklahoma State Insurance Department

Oklahoma’s State Insurance Department announced this week that it would begin a grant program in 2025 to encourage people to install storm-resistant 'Fortified' roofs. The grants would help offset the more expensive roof systems by 10-15%.

The program, first reported by KOTV in Tulsa, Okla., will require specific steps for the installation by roofers certified to participate in the program and an independent inspection before and after the job.

Fortified roofs have a waterproof layer under the shingles that helps prevent water leaks even if the shingles are blown off.

"In the event the shingles come off, your decking would not be completely exposed to weather, and you wouldn't have water coming inside your home,” Jarod Lane, with A-Best Roofing, a certified Fortified installer, told KOTV.

The state grants will come from a fund within the State Insurance Department, with a $10 million annual maximum. The department estimates that the typical grant would be $3,000.

State Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready said the Oklahoma program is modeled after Alabama's program, which was created after repeated losses from hurricanes.

"The fortified wind and hail takes that same technique and puts an impact-resistant shingle on top so it's less likely to get damaged in a hail storm,” said Lane.