Hurricane Touches Window Film Companies

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have caused significant damage to the Gulf Coast areas of the United States in the last couple of months, and no industry has gone untouched.

Kerry D'Antoni, owner of Sunscape Window Tinting experienced both hurricanes and the aftermath first hand. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the city lost power for four days. Aside from that, D'Antoni said that he and his neighbors came through just fine.

"We had some wind and minor damage in Baton Rouge and the surrounding area, but mainly we weren't hit bad at all. We were very lucky. We feel very fortunate that we were on the worst side of one of [the hurricanes] and did very well and were on the best side of the first one, Katrina, and fared very well on that one," he said.

Baton Rouge, 80 miles north of New Orleans, is a destination point for many displaced people from New Orleans and even Biloxi, Miss., who were seeking refuge from Katrina, and the sudden influx is having a significant impact on the city.

"With the evacuees, the housing is just a boom here. We're finding an increase in sales just with people getting into their new houses," said D'Antoni, who was interviewed for WINDOW FILM magazine's coverage on hurricane season and what it means for the industry and said that his experience hasn't changed how he looks at the industry in relation to safety and security film.

While life is slowly returning to a semblance of normal for everyone on the coast, the sheer magnitude of what happened is beyond comprehension to all but those who lived through it.

"No one can fathom what happened down here. Pictures can't show it, word can't describe it," said D'Antoni.

Watch for the next issue of Window Film magazine for more information about how Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have affected members of the window film industry.