LANTANA, Fla., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Tom Johnston, President of the International Hurricane Protection Association (IHPA), announced today the launching of the 'Get the Number' consumer awareness campaign. "The 'Get the Number' campaign is an educational tool to let consumers know what they should be looking for when buying storm and hurricane protection," Johnston said. "Consumers can ensure that they are buying and protecting their home with approved or evaluated products by simply requesting and confirming that the product they are buying has an awarded approval or evaluation number." "Unfortunately, there are products out there being sold that have never been tested or evaluated," Johnston added. "With the increased hurricane activity that we have had over the last decade, and predicted to continue for the next 20 years, we have been able to gather an immense amount of information on what is needed and what fails in regards to protecting your home and family in cases of hurricane strikes. The accredited agencies know now what to look for and can hold the manufacturers' of storm and hurricane protection feet to the fire to insist that consumers are getting proper protection." Agreeing that, "it may be possible that an unapproved, untested product may work to some extent," but Johnston warned, "the bigger worry is that the product being installed on the consumer's home was tested and failed. That is why they are unable to present an approval number." "Our research shows that the costs that contractors are charging for unapproved products are no different than what is being charged for approved products. It is a pretty simple decision; just 'Get the Number'."
