Harrison County · Wind Pool Territory

FORTIFIED and metal roofing in Long Beach, Mississippi

The highest storm surge NOAA recorded in Hurricane Katrina, roughly 28 feet, came ashore on the Long Beach and Pass Christian stretch of Harrison County. That single number explains this city's housing stock, its building politics, and why its roofs deserve more engineering than a price-per-square conversation: south of the tracks, Long Beach is essentially a twenty-year-old town built on the footprint of the one the Gulf removed.

A rebuilt city with its own gatekeeping

Long Beach responded to the rebuild years with a local rule that still serves homeowners: contractors operating in the city must be licensed through the city building department, insurance certificates on file, in addition to state licensing. The practical effect is a second checkpoint. Before a re-roof starts, your contractor should exist in two systems, the state's MSBOC lookup at search.msboc.us and the city's contractor rolls, and a company missing from either has some explaining to do. The hiring guide turns those checks into a five-minute routine.

Sources: Long Beach Code of Ordinances, ch. 8 (contractor licensing); City of Long Beach Building Department, cityoflongbeachms.info.

What the post-surge stock means for a re-roof

Code-era decks, clean retrofits. The post-2005 rebuild went up under the statewide code the coastal counties were required to adopt, so most Long Beach homes bring sound sheathing and modern framing to a FORTIFIED roof replacement, keeping the upgrade at the low end of the six to 20 percent premium range.
Beachfront exposure, marine hardware. The blocks between the beach and Railroad Street sit inside the 3,000-foot saltwater band where FORTIFIED requires stainless fasteners on metal roofs.
First re-roof cycle, biggest decision. Twenty years is the working life of a builder-grade shingle roof on this coast, which means the rebuild generation is choosing its second roof now, and the asphalt-to-metal fork, covered on the metal conversion page, is live on most streets.

The Harrison County incentive stack

Long Beach homeowners are in the Strengthen Mississippi Homes first phase, so a grant may be offered toward a FORTIFIED Roof retrofit for eligible owner-occupied homes with qualifying Wind Pool coverage, awarded by lottery in periodic rounds (amounts and eligibility change; current terms at mid.ms.gov). A certified retrofit then earns the MS Code 83-75-3 wind-premium discount, roughly 17 to 20 percent at the Roof level per the MWUA, annually. The full stack is assembled in the Gulf Coast FORTIFIED roofing guide.

Permits in Long Beach

The city Building Department issues permits and administers the contractor licensing above; start at cityoflongbeachms.info. Your contractor normally files, and the flood-elevation layer near the beach shapes structural scope the same way it does across the coastal strip.

Nearby: Gulfport to the east and Bay St. Louis across the bay to the west, or the full service-area list.

Sources: NOAA/NWS Hurricane Katrina post-storm assessments (surge); HB 1406 (2006) coastal code mandate; MWUA, msplans.com; MS Code 83-75-3.

Before You Sign Anything

Verify your contractor's Mississippi license and FORTIFIED credentials

The MSBOC license

Residential roofing over $10,000 requires a Residential Roofer license from the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, and a FORTIFIED re-roof clears that threshold on most homes. Look the license up free at search.msboc.us and confirm it is current and in good standing before any contract is signed.

Basis: MS Code 73-59-1; MSBOC.

The FORTIFIED credential

IBHS maintains a public directory of FORTIFIED-trained roofing professionals and independent evaluators at fortifiedhome.org. The evaluator who certifies the finished roof is independent of the installer; IBHS itself issues the certificate. Grant-funded work must additionally be performed by a Strengthen Mississippi Homes program-authorized contractor, per mid.ms.gov.

Basis: fortifiedhome.org; mid.ms.gov. Verified July 17, 2026.

Three questions to ask

What is your MSBOC license number, so I can check it at search.msboc.us?
Who performs the FORTIFIED evaluation, and is that evaluator independent of your company?
Will the written estimate itemize the FORTIFIED upgrades separately from the base re-roof?

Questions and Answers

Long Beach roofing questions

Does Long Beach require contractors to register with the city?

Yes. By city ordinance, contractors operating in Long Beach must be licensed through the city building department in addition to holding any state license, with insurance certificates on file naming the city. It is a useful extra filter: a contractor unknown at city hall is a contractor to question. The Building Department page is at cityoflongbeachms.info.

How bad was Katrina in Long Beach, really?

Among the worst anywhere. The surge along the Long Beach and Pass Christian stretch reached roughly 28 feet per NOAA post-storm assessments, the highest recorded in the storm, and it removed most structures near the beach. Nearly everything south of the railroad today is post-2005, code-era construction, which is exactly the stock that takes a FORTIFIED retrofit cleanly.

Is Long Beach eligible for the Strengthen Mississippi Homes grant?

Yes. Long Beach is in Harrison County, part of the program’s first phase, so a grant may be offered toward a FORTIFIED Roof retrofit for eligible owner-occupied single-family homes with qualifying Wind Pool coverage, awarded by lottery in periodic rounds. Amounts and eligibility change, so confirm the current terms and whether a round is open at mid.ms.gov.

Do you install roofs in Long Beach?

No. MS Fortified Roofing is a free referral service. An independent MSBOC-licensed roofing professional performs the work; verify the state license at search.msboc.us and the city registration with the Long Beach building department.