Storm & Security

opens fully for view then rotates closed for hurricanes. Today, Town & Country has a full line of rolling shutters, colonials, bahamas, accordions and a large selection of storm panels and tracks. Johnston credits his grasp of mechanics and working with John Knezevich, P.E., for his product designing abilities. "John is probably the best lightweight aluminum engineer in the country," he says. "Over the years I picked up quite a bit of engineering principals from our meetings, which helps me when designing new products" Industry Rallies In 1999 another event occurred that affected Johnston's career: Hurricane Floyd. "Floyd was a monster-sized Cat 4 storm that would have decimated any land areas that it came in contact with. For the first time the East Coast was evacuated from the [Florida] Keys to the New England coast. Newspapers were plastered with photos of people trapped on the roads trying to escape and find a safe place to ride out the storm. We were all very fortunate. Floyd dropped down in strength before finally hitting Cape Fear, NC, as a Cat 2 storm. The signif- icance of Floyd was that it really showed Florida how vulnerable we were and that we really had no place to evacuate to for a storm of this size." As coastal counties re- grouped after Floyd, Florida began formulating the Florida Building Commission (FBC) to create a new statewide product approval system along with updated building codes. A few industry veterans began meeting to see how the shutter industry could rally to help the code process along and to protect the industry by giving it a unified voice. The early players were Mike Madden, Madden Mfg.; Frank Storms, Advanced Aluminum Construction; Leroy Peterson, Broward Hurricane; Bill Feeley, East- ern Metal Supply and Tom Johnston, Town & Country. "After trying to partner up with another related association and having no luck, we formulated what is now known as the International Hurricane Protection Association (IHPA). We had the foundation meeting in 2000 in southeast Florida," Johnston says. Although formed in Florida, the IHPA now is recognized nation- wide and has achieved notable success in many areas that protect homeowners and families and have strengthened the industry and the integrity of its professionals. For example, the IHPA spearheaded the successful Get the Number campaign (S&SP, Vol. II, No. 3, page 10). IHPA also was instrumental in creating code modifications so homeowners can actually shutter an entire home without violating the Program and Community Development Block Grant programs in Louisiana and in Coastal Retrofit in Mississippi. Members of the IHPA sit on various code bodies such as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the International Code Council's (ICC) Industry Advisory Committee. Board members routinely attend Florida Building Commission meetings and are active in many of the hurricane prone regions of the country. Lows and Highs As his tenure as IHPA president nears its end, Johnston reflects on the highs and lows of his term. He became president during an unfortunate transitional period that has everything to do with the econ- omy. "Probably the single biggest task of my presidency was keeping the IHPA alive amidst the worst economic meltdown our industry has ever seen. When times were good, such as in 2004 to 2006, we could not keep members away. The recession accounted for upwards of a 70 percent decline in the industry," Johnston estimates. PEOPLE IN THE KNOW 2012 / STORM&SEcURITY PROTEcTION Cover Story continued on pg. 24 13 building code. "This basically refers to exempting hurricane protection systems from meeting the egress requirements of the building code when under hurricane warning, and the ability to exit through a garage side door and numerous others," Johnston explains. Since its founding, IHPA has worked with or partnered with several affiliated or like-minded organizations such as FLASH (Federal Alliance for Safe Homes) and the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS). It also maintains contacts with the federal Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency (FEMA). IHPA has been involved in grant programs such as the My Safe Florida Home, the Hazard Mitigation Grant

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