Hurricane Andrew-From the eye of a roofing contractor

Edward Murton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, one of eight kids. His father was a union roofer and his mother a housewife. As an adult, Edward moved to Miami and with his brothers, they started their own company, Murton Roofing of Miami. Fourteen years later in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo hit six hundred miles away in Charleston, South Carolina, Edward went up to see if he could help with the devastation left behind. Murton Roofing was instrumental in helping to get Charleston schools reopened, doing dry-ins for thirty-four schools and reroofing twenty-seven schools. He also helped the South Carolina Ports Authority and the Charleston Naval Base. Then Hurricane Andrew hit in Edward's own backyard. Murton Roofing was able to overcome the damage experienced by family, friends, employees, and customers. The company was also instrumental in helping the school board get schools open again with emergency dry-ins and major reroofs. They reroofed two major buildings at the Miami International Airport and one building at Miami Dade Community College South campus. Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Andrew made Murton Roofing strong financially, with unlimited bonding ability. After the two hurricanes, Murton Roofing never looked back. All the hard work Edward, Jim, and Rich did for 20 years had finally paid off. When Edward is not holding a hammer, he's often holding a fishing rod. An avid fisherman, he fishes for enjoyment but has also competed in 25 national and international tournaments over the years, where he has won over $200,000 in prize money.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit in Edward Murton's own backyard. There were over 100,000 houses with wood showing and all their roofs ripped off, and there were over 25,000 homes completely destroyed. Nearly 1.5 million people were without power.

Several employees of his company, Murton Roofing, had severe damage to their homes, as did family, friends, and customers. So Edward and his crew dug in and was able to repair most of the damage. The company was also instrumental in helping the school board get schools open again with emergency dry-ins and major reroofs. They reroofed two major buildings at the Miami International Airport and one building at Miami Dade Community College South campus.


These are Edward's fascinating stories about his work as an emergency roofer after the events of Hurricane Andrew.