A spokesperson for Loewen in Steinbach says after seeing photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, they have determined their hurricane resistant windows did exactly what they were supposed to do.

Jon Sawatzky says for a number of years now they have been in the business of manufacturing hurricane resistant windows. He explains when designing these windows there are two levels of protection needed. The window must provide protection from water filtration in the form of rain and flooding. They must also hold up from the impact of flying debris.

(Loewen Windows damaged but the glass stayed intact)When it comes to windows, Sawatzky says the majority of Florida has some sort of impact requirements. In fact, he says code requirements run across the entire east coast, from south Texas all the way to Maine. Though there are select codes in the Caribbean, Sawatzky says they are not as strict.

Loewen windows are tested by independent third-party labs. But Sawatzky says Loewen also does some of its own preliminary testings on site in order to get an understanding of where their products will fit. Several different tests are done, gauging a window's performance on air filtration, water leakage and structural integrity. Sawatzky says they will literally shoot a two-by-four out of a cannon against the window. This is usually done at a couple of different spots on the window. Then, through cycle testing, they will put the product through 9,000 cycles of positive and negative pressure.

Sawatzky says whenever a hurricane is forecast, he wonders how their product will hold up. Then, once the hurricane has passed through, they try to make contact with their distributors to make sure everybody came through okay.

"There's going to be some short-term concern because there is health and safety of obviously our distributors, our partners, our customers and our staff who live in those areas," says Sawatzky. "We make sure that once we're done that and past that then we can start looking at the future and generally the future looks pretty good there, there's a lot of good opportunities for us coming out of these."

But Sawatzky says assessing the damage and implications can take several weeks to complete. In fact, it is possible that Hurricane Irma assessments are still not wrapped up.

After Hurricane Irma ripped through southern Florida and the Caribbean, Loewen distributors checked in with their job sites to get a glimpse of the damage. Ben Carter is a distributor in Florida and parts of the Caribbean. In his words, Loewen windows came through, "absolutely fantastic."

Carter says about 90 percent of the windows he sells are hurricane resistant. He notes even people living in Orlando will install these windows for two reasons. The first is just in case that superstorm rolls through. The second reason is for security from burglars.

(Another window that was damaged but performed as it was supposed to)Carter says he can't speak highly enough for how Loewen windows held up in Irma. On the British Virgin Islands, between 80 and 90 percent of all structures were damaged. But, he says the only homes with Loewen Windows that had severe damage were those hit by tornadic activity.

When it comes to protecting a home during a hurricane, Carter says it all starts with the windows and doors you install.

"Once you have a breach, once one window fails, it increases your chance of losing your roof and all your other windows," explains Carter. 'So it's important that not one window gives way."

This doesn't mean however that the windows were unscathed. Actually, Sawatzky says many windows sustained significant damage, yet the glass stayed intact and remained secured to the frame, preventing the roof from being blown off. He notes they did exactly as they were supposed to, similar to how they were tested in a lab.

According to Carter, Loewen windows performed so well during Hurricane Irma that they are now getting requests for bids all over the islands. He notes even though many window manufacturers in North America sell hurricane resistant windows, there is no question that Loewen has the best.

"There's a lot of factors that make Loewen better, they put the strength in them as a standard instead of an option," says Carter. "All other manufacturers give you options to make their windows stronger, Loewen sets it as a standard and they don't deviate from it."

Carter says he doesn't offer any other windows on the British Virgin Islands.

"I don't have confidence in other items," admits Carter. "Especially after going down there and visiting and seeing the other brands and what happened to them."