Today, as I drove down a Central Florida roadway, I saw evidence of proactive steps taken by Outfront in anticipation of Hurricane Milton. Outfront had cut holes in the vinyls on both sides of a board. Kudos to Outfront. Sadly, I could not say the same for boards owned by other operators just one block away.
As a reminder for those in the path of any hurricane:
- Prioritize non-conforming boards. Take vinyls down or consider removing digital sign faces when the non-conforming nature of the board could mean a complete loss of the structure if it is significantly damaged.
- Lessen the likelihood of damage. Remove vinyls or cut holes into vinyls and remove extensions that can become projectiles in strong winds. Don’t think that a steel monopole structure can withstand the force of hurricane winds without damage. Following Hurricane Helene, I had clients whose steel structures incurred damage in the form of bent steel. Lessen the wind resistence as much as possible to reduce the possibility of having to do structural repairs to a large number of boards.
- Post-Hurricane repair work. Make sure that any contractor doing repair work after a storm list their work in the invoice as “repair” work to a structure. Have the contractor refrain from using words like “replace” or “new,” especially for work done on non-conforming boards.
Sending positive thoughts to those of you with inventory in the path of Hurricane Milton. If you have any legal questions you can contact me at 407-599-7400, JSloane@Sloanelawoffice.com
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Interesting that there was no elaboration on the recommendation to the use the word “repair.” Does it go without saying that this is a requirement for reimbursement by insurance companies and/or government relief funds? Or is there another explanation?