Hurricane Storm PanelsMyrtle Beach, SC

Myrtle Beach, Horry County

Storm panels in Myrtle Beach, and the question of who does the lifting

Aluminum storm panels in Myrtle Beach are $22/sq ft installed. Clear polycarbonate panels are $26/sq ft. Both carry the same ASTM E1886/E1996 rating as accordions, roll-downs and rated Bahamas, and both count the same way toward a mitigation credit. The certification is identical; what differs is who does the work.

That is normally the argument against panels for a rental or a second home, and on the Grand Strand it is frequently the argument for them. A managed property already has a cleaning crew, a maintenance contact and someone with keys. If deployment is written into the management agreement, an owner can buy the cheapest rated system on the list and still have it deployed reliably — which is not a trade available to an absentee owner anywhere else on our map.

The condition is that it has to be written down. A verbal understanding that somebody will probably get to it is how properties end up unprotected with a storm named and the bridge traffic already building. Ask your management company directly whether panel deployment is in scope and what it costs per event, and buy for the answer you actually get.

The clear polycarbonate option at $26 is worth the extra four dollars per square foot more often than people expect. Aluminum panels turn every protected room completely dark, and a multi-day outage in a blacked-out unit is miserable for anyone riding it out. Clear panels keep daylight inside and let you see what the weather is doing.