East Coast Hurricane Protection helps families prepare for storms

It’s not a matter of if but rather when a devastating hurricane will hit Sussex County.

Coastal Hurricane Protection, a company providing products to prevent damage to homes, occupants and their possessions, is ready to assist.

“We’ve had some close calls. We’ve been lucky,” said Ethan Rhodes, president of Coastal Hurricane Protection (CHP) about storm near misses and near hits.

In the Cape Region, CHP is sole distributor of Global Protection Products - which offers accordion, roll-down and fabric hurricane shutters - and Storm-A-Rest fabric hurricane panels.
“The Miami-Dade County [Fla.] building codes all basically stem from Hurricane Andrew. That’s where it all started,” said William “Hurricane Bill” Blatzheim, CHP sales consultant.

Hurricane Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm struck the northwestern Bahamas, southern Florida at Homestead, south of Miami, and southwest Louisiana. In its wake was damage estimated at $26.5 billion.

“Every single house in that area was demolished. Miami-Dade County has the most stringent building codes in the country. All of our hurricane shutter products have been tested and approved in their labs,” said Blatzheim.

He said product engineers haven’t missed anything – from the amount of spacing between grommets that fasten impact-resistant fabric shutters, to a patented end-retention system that locks a roll-down hurricane shutter’s curtain into a track.

Rhodes said impact-resistant windows, which are required on new homes within a mile of the Atlantic Ocean coast, are expensive. “They’re about twice as much as the standard window package, but people need to remember these storms go much farther than one mile inland,” he said.

The company sells and installs a basic impact-resistant fabric system that has been proven to be very effective.

“It’s not fancy, but it protects your home and is the most affordable way to do it,” Rhodes said. He said that after seeing a video showing how easily a 2-by-4 wooden board shot from an air gun at 35 mph went through a piece of plywood, he was sold on impact-resistant fabric shutters.

Rhodes said once there’s a hole through a window, the structure’s roof can be ripped off by high winds and air pressure.

Another system, Storm-A-Rest window and door hurricane panels, costs about $10 per square foot more than the basic impact-resistant fabric shutters. He said the product has several additional design features. It is deployed from inside the home, allows more than 80 percent light transmission, includes an optional zipper for safe egress and is available trimmed in more than 300 Sunbrella patterns and colors.

“The impact fabrics are very affordable and can be used inland as well as beachfront,” Blatzheim said.

Rhodes said many customers prefer metal roll-down hurricane shutters. They’re always at the ready and can be manually cranked into position or deployed by motor with the flip of a switch.

“The roll-down shutter gives you a lot of security as well. Oceanfront clients say they love having the hurricane protection of the roll-down, but there’s also peace of mind,” Rhodes said.

Accordion hurricane shutters cover large spans and can be installed where space above or beside a window or door is limited. Accordion shutters can also be locked, a feature many customers like, Rhodes said.

Accordion and roll-down shutters come in four colors. There’s also a clear, corrugated shutter that can be deployed in easily manageable sections. “Some people say ‘I want to see the storm.’ We can provide that as well,” Rhodes said.

The company can also arrange to deploy shutter systems for customers when a storm is approaching. CHP also services everything it sells. Rhodes recommends servicing metal shutter systems at least twice a year.

Coastal Hurricane Protection is on Route 9 about a mile west of Dairy Farm Road. Store hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Saturday hours have not yet been set. Customers can also arrange appointments and home visits.

For information, contact William Blatzheim at 302-396-1702, or Ethan Rhodes at 302-236-7796, or go to coastalhurricane.com