Szlegier: When did you first realize that Hurricane Andrew might hit Miami?

Porobic: The Sunday before.

Szlegier:What preparations did you make? What would you do differently if you had the chance?

Porobic: I was in Ft. Lauderdale at the time, so we came back that afternoon when we heard it announced. There’s really nothing more that we could have done, we even over did stuff. There’s nothing you can really do once you realize it’s going to hit. Anything we put away or tied down and all that, I don’t think any of that really mattered after what had happened. Boarding up the windows didn’t help very much either. Short of better construction on the house and very good hurricane shutters, I don’t think anything else would have mattered and that’s not something you can do the day before the hurricane hits.

Szlegier: What were your expectations of the storms effects on your life in general? On your business?

Porobic: I didn’t think it was going to be much more than a big storm. I expected that we would be rather busy as a result of a it. Any time we have a storm we always get a lot of calls being in the roofing business. Even a strong rain, we start getting a lot of calls. So I was expecting to be busy.

Szlegier: Where were you during the hurricane?

Porobic: Here, in this house with my roommate and two dogs.

Szlegier: What was your experience during the hurricane?

Porobic: It was sort of like riding on an airplane on the outside.

Szlegier:What were your thoughts or concerns during the hurricane?

Porobic: Basically whether I’m going to live or not.

Szlegier: What was your first thought after the hurricane?

Porobic: I’m really not sure, I think I was shellshocked for a long time afterwards.

Szlegier: What was the first thing you did?

Porobic: Went out and looked, walked along the street to see if the neighbors were okay and so on.

Szlegier: What was your first week after the storm like?

Porobic: Mostly spent outside of Miami, trying to get phones going or establish some kind of communication for the business. Not having a place to operate out of, we ran the phones out of a makeshift office out of a motel in Lauderdale.

Szlegier: Did you receive help after the hurricane?

Porobic: Yes, from friends and family. The National Guard came by but there was really nothing they could do for us.

Szlegier: Were you able to provide help to others?

Porobic: Very little because we were in a very bad mess ourselves.

Szlegier: What effect has Hurricane Andrew had on your daily life?

Porobic: . Different living conditions, not the same accommodations I was used to.

Szlegier: Has the hurricane significantly changed your plans for the future?

Porobic: Not really, no.

Szlegier:What were the immediate effects of the hurricane on your business?

Porobic: We were out of business and had no where to operate out of for three weeks and for two weeks we were not even able to receive phone calls. A number of the people that worked for us, seeing a very good opportunity and with us not able to operate, left to work on their own or for other companies so we lost some people after the storm. The majority of them live further north so they weren’t really affected by the storm.

Szlegier: Was there significant damage to the trucks and supplies necessary for your work?

Porobic: Miraculously, there was not much damage to the trucks and we never carry much inventory so there wasn’t much lost.

Szlegier: Was your company insured for all or some of the damages?

Porobic: Nothing, basically we lost several months worth of work.

Szlegier: Once you were able to contact and be contacted by your customers, were you able to meet their needs?

Porobic: Some of them, no roofing company was able to meet everybody’s needs.

Szlegier: Were you able to get sufficient supplies to do your work?

Porobic: No, not most the supplies we need, we still have shortages.

Szlegier: Were many of our customers dependent upon receiving insurance claims in order to begin rebuilding?

Porobic: Definitely, most of them.

Szlegier:Did most of them get the money they needed?

Porobic: Some did, some didn’t. Some were forced to pay out of their pocket because insurance companies didn’t give them enough. Some were forced to go with unlicensed and shotty workmanship because the insurance companies insisted that they use people that they brought in and in most cases, were not experienced and in some cases, not even licensed.

Szlegier: Was most of your work repairing existing roofs or in building entirely new?

Porobic: Well, you have to split it this way, repairs, re-roofing where an old roof is removed and a new one placed, or a complete new roof in which we only get a wood deck and we put on a whole new roof. Before the storm we did a lot more repairs, now, repairs are very few. We do a lot of re-roofing and more new roofs because many houses lost the trusses and so on which means that the general contractors had to go and put those up and we put a new roof. So, re-roofs and new roofs have increased tremendously and repairs have dropped off.

Szlegier: Was most of your business before the storm residential or commercial? Has this changed since the storm?

Porobic: We were and still are more residential.

Szlegier:. Are you working in the same areas that you worked in before the storm?

Porobic: More or less.

Szlegier:What were the attitudes of your customers after the storm?

Porobic: I think most of them were anxious to rebuild. Those who relocated wouldn’t be contacting us so I wouldn’t really know.

Szlegier: Did you have a lot of repeat customers whom you had dealt with before or mostly new customers?

Porobic: We had a lot of repeat customers and some new.

Szlegier:. Overall, has the hurricane increased your business?

Porobic: Yes, at least doubled it.