The repair job is the best he could muster after fierce winds from Hurricane Gustav ripped shingles and rows of tar roofing paper off the Baton Rouge minister’s home near Goodwood Boulevard.

Although water hasn’t gotten inside his home since Monday, Harris is worried the tree limbs holding the tarps in place aren’t going to hold. A roofer Harris said he spoke with Friday told him his worries were warranted.

“My ceilings and floors are already wet,” he said. “I can’t afford for them to get any more rain.”

A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman said temporary relief is on the way via the agency’s Blue Roof Program, which is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The program, which provides free temporary roofing services to people whose homes and businesses received damage from the storm, is getting started in 13 south Louisiana parishes, Denise Everhart said.

On Friday, about a dozen corps employees were looking for places where they can set up registration sites for people in need of Blue Roof Program services, she said.

More information about the sites and a toll-free Blue Roof Program telephone number will be released today or Sunday, Everhart said.

Mark Davidson, a corps spokesman, said the first thing people do when they register is fill out a right-of-entry form allowing corps workers to assess damage on private property.

After assessments are made, contractors can put temporary plastic roofs on damaged homes and businesses, he said. The roofs are generally good for 60 days, but could last only 30, he said.

Also, the roofs can only be put on pitched, asphalt-shingled roofs where 50 percent of the structure is still standing, Davidson said. They cannot be put on tile roofs made of clay, slate or asbestos.

The process of getting a temporary roof could take several days to a few weeks, Everhart said, adding that it depends on how many people sign up.

About 78,000 roofs were installed through the program in Louisiana after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Since the program began after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, hundreds of thousands have been installed on hurricane-damaged structures throughout the United States.

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