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Local Roofing Companies Struggle After April Hail Storm

FORT SMITH(KFSM)– Roofing companies in the river valley will see no shortage of business in the coming months, because of the damage caused in the hail st...

FORT SMITH(KFSM)-- Roofing companies in the river valley will see no shortage of business in the coming months, because of the damage caused in the hail storm in April of this year.But, not without challenges.

"There's been so much damage all the way across the country," said Pam Domerese with Construction Masters, "So much storms that all the companies are on allocation right now. At one point, the whole state of Arkansas was getting six trucks of shingles a week, so that would be spread out over all the distributors."

The hail storm damaged 20,000 home in Fort Smith alone and since then, contractors have said there has been two price increases on shingles. Contractors are now relying on their local suppliers to keep the cost from affecting homeowners.

"We only use Owens Corning shingles. We are platinum preferred contractor with Owens and they have been kind enough to use. They have brought shingles in from Portland Oregon for us, so they've really taken care of us," said Domerese.

Other local contractors said they expect work to continue for months to come.

"We are doing about two to three years worth of work in about a four-month span. So we are doing about five to seven jobs a day," Said Branden Adams of Adams & Son Roofing.

The city of Fort Smith receives about 200 job permits per week and it has added up to over 20 million dollars worth of repair job. However, local construction companies are concerned that not all of them are local, established businesses.

"We just ask that, if you don't stick with me, stick with a local company in our town that will take care of you," said Adams.

Contractors we spoke with said that as the price of shingles continues to rise, most insurance companies will supplement the increase by tracking the regional prices.

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