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Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Give your home a hurricane-season checkup
Sprint remodels its local store, doubles the number of employees to serve the area

John Kennedy/Caller-Times

Sprint has enlarged its store at 2702 S. Padre Island Drive in response to an increase in the number of customers the company has attracted. A self-guided information area lets customers find out how Sprint integrates the Internet with cell phone service.

'Tis the season when coastal homeowners make a list and check it twice. They make plans, sometimes wait in lengthy store lines and prepare their home.
   It's not Christmas in July. It's hurricane season.
   It's a time when many residents prepare for the worst, but now there are more types of building materials designed to strengthen houses for destructive wind.
   These include impact-resistant and high-wind-resistant shingles, windows and shutters. The windstorm building code, which went into effect more than a year ago, adds more reinforcements to the construction of a house to make it stronger.
   These precautions might pay off with a more active hurricane season predicted. The central Atlantic will throw more than 11 tropical storms this season, which begins June 1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration.
   Even so, more than half of the people who live in coastal areas are prepared for the strong winds the season might throw, according to a survey. Of the homeowners who live along the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 58 percent said they are unprepared for the hurricane season, according to a report by the Institute for Business and Home Safety. The Boston-based group is made of insurance companies.
   Dan McCurdy, sales representative at Zarsky Lumber Co., said residents are using building supplies such as impact-resistant glass for their coastal homes. The windows have a protective layer that can withstand flying debris without the need for shutters to protect it. The windows are getting attention from winter Texans who are building homes on the island.
   "A lot of the homeowners are absentee, so even if you had a roll-up shutter, or you had plywood, you'd have to be here to actually do it," McCurdy said.
   The Institute for Business and Home Safety suggests that homeowners give their home a checkup to make sure it is ready for hurricane season:

Use impact-resistant windows or shutters. Or cover all glass with plywood storm shutters.

Garage doors can be reinforced using kits at home-supply stores.

Install a security dead bolt with at least a 1-inch bolt.

Brace gable walls.

Trim trees and shrubs, eliminating weak branches.
   Brad Adams, manager at Sutherland's on Staples Street, said that as hurricanes approach, supplies such as Plylox clips used to board up homes are grabbed up quickly. Last year for Hurricane Bret, the location sold six semi trailer loads of plywood to residents who were boarding their homes.
   He encourages early preparation for the stormy weather.
   "If you're prepared early, you miss the long shopping lines."
   Sprint enlarges local store
   Monday was the first day for Sprint to show off renovations to its store at 2702 S. Padre Island Drive.
   The store is more than twice as large, at 2,500 square feet, after the remodeling.
   District manager Jerry Gonzales said the expanded store is a reaction to the increase in the number of customers the company has picked up as a result of growing the territory it serves. The new store doubles the number of employees to 30 and stocks twice as much inventory.
   The store also adds the engineers that were working in the San Antonio office to the Corpus Christi office.
   The store has a modern feel with an emphasis on self-guided information areas where people can look at the coverage area included in their service or learn about how Sprint integrates the Internet with cell phone service.
   A grand reopening is set for July.
   Realtor leader steps down
   The Corpus Christi Association of Realtors' monthly luncheon will say goodbye to Foster Edwards, departing CEO of the Association of Realtors, and hello to the newly renovated building. Edwards is the new president of Stewart Title in Corpus Christi.
   A barbecue is set for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the association office, 5250 Everhart Road.
   The cost is $12.95 per person and reservations must be made in advance.



Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by email at jaresa@caller.com. On Real Estate is published every other Tuesday in the business section.

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