[mrsnjp]

Greetings, from soggy Southeastern Virginia!

The hubs and I are wondering if the HOA at TV has a policy or covenant that covers the installation of permanent hurricane shutters (whether wood or metal).

As a life-long resident of the Tidewater Virginia area, and a veteran hurricane survivor, I know well the value of hurricane preparedness, especially covering windows before an approaching storm. This was reinforced this past weekend, when a large tree limb came within 3' of our bedroom window during Irene...fortunately, we had covered the windows on the east side of the house with plywood the night before. With TV located in the middle FL, we would be about as close to the coast (in either direction) as we are now in Suffolk, VA...and we certainly know that we are and would be within easy reach of a large tropical system.

While we are at this point still able to wrestle with large sheets of plywood, I don't think either of us will want to mess with them when we approach our 70's, and we would definitely want to look into the option of permanent / automatic storm shutters. Does anyone know if there are any restrictions concerning this? Does anyone have permanent storm shutters that could provide insight into their installation, cost, maintenance, and ease of use?

We also heard that garage doors at TV are storm tested and certified, but cannot find any actual references to this...any clarification you may be able to provide will be greatly appreciated.