Severe Weather Preparedness Week: preparing your home for severe weather

Spring is the most active time of the year for severe weather in the Carolinas. This past week, severe storms brought damaging wind and the season’s first tornado for Union County. The EF-1 tornado touched down near Porter Ridge High School Wednesday morning with peak winds estimated at 90 mph. The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg were able to determine the rating based on the damage they surveyed in the area.

Typically EF-1 tornadoes produce minor to moderate damage: snapping trees, ripping shingles form roofs and tossing structures without a solid foundation. 

However, the meteorologists surveying the damage observed a new home nearly done with construction had significant damage, noting it was likely due to the lack of garage door and windows.

This highlights a key point: it’s not just the wind outside that causes damage to homes during severe weather – it’s what happens if that wind gets inside.

At the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) in Richburg, South Carolina, researchers put full-scale buildings to the test—simulating hurricane and tornado-force winds to study weaknesses in construction and building materials. Their findings have helped improve building code with materials that will withstand severe weather.

Christina Gropp, a meteorologist at IBHS, says one of the weakest points of a home is one many people may overlook—the garage door.

“Garage doors are one of the most vulnerable parts of your home,” Gropp explains. “They can be pushed inward by the wind, and from some of our analyses, we found that if your garage door stays in place, there’s a 90 percent chance that the roof and walls of your home structurally will be intact.”

If a garage door fails, wind rushes inside, increasing pressure and pushing up on the roof. Once the roof lifts, the walls lose support weakening the structural integrity of your home, or even causing it to collapse.

The easiest way to check is to look for a wind rating sticker—typically found on the inside of the garage door near the top or along the edge.

If your door doesn’t have a sticker, there’s a good chance it isn’t wind-rated. Wind-resistant standards weren’t widely implemented until 2006, and many older homes may not have wind-rated doors.

The best way to ensure your garage door is strong enough to handle extreme wind is to get a wind rated door. However, garage door bracing kits can help to reinforce your door and are available at most hardware stores.

Another easy way to protect your home ahead of a storm? Close every window and door inside your house.

“By closing interior doors, you reduce the pressure on your roof by up to 30 percent,” Gropp says. “And that may just be enough to keep your roof intact during a storm.”

Severe weather can put every part of your home to the test, but taking action ahead of time can reduce your risk of costly damage later.

You can find more ways to keep your home or business safe during severe weather, or more about the research being done at IBHS here.