Hurricane Protection

Why Hurricane Protection?

WindowZ offers many options to protect your biggest investment against hurricanes and tropical storms. History teaches that a lack of hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane disasters. By knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster.

Hurricane Preparedness Week during 2008 will be held May 25th through May 31st.

The ingredients for a hurricane include a pre-existing weather disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds aloft. If the right conditions persist long enough, they can combine to produce the violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains, and floods we associate with this phenomenon.

Each year, an average of eleven tropical storms develop over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Many of these remain over the ocean and never impact the U.S. coastline. Six of these storms become hurricanes each year. In an average 3-year period, roughly five hurricanes strike the US coastline, killing approximately 50 to 100 people anywhere from Texas to Maine. Of these, two are typically "major" or "intense" hurricanes, a category 3 or higher storm.

What is a Hurricane?

A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which is a generic term for a low pressure system that generally forms in the tropics. The cyclone is accompanied by thunderstorms and, in the Northern Hemisphere, a counterclockwise circulation of winds near the earth's surface. Tropical cyclones are classified as follows:

Tropical Depression

An organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 38 mph (33 knots) or less.

Tropical Storm

An organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 39-73 mph (34-63 knots).

Hurricane

An intense tropical weather system of strong thunderstorms with a well-defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher.

Historical Activity

The following chart illustrates the hurricane activity over the past 10 to 12 years for the Brunswick County area.

Hurricane activity in North Carolina

High Winds

The intensity of a land-falling hurricane is expressed in terms of categories that relate wind speeds and potential damage. According to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, a Category 1 hurricane has lighter winds compared to storms in higher categories. A Category 4 hurricane would have winds between 131 and 155 mph and, on the average, would usually be expected to cause 100 times the damage of the Category 1 storm. Depending on circumstances, less intense storms may still be strong enough to produce damage, particularly in areas that have not prepared in advance.

What can you do to be prepared?

Find out if your home meets current building code requirements for high-winds. Experts agree that structures built to meet or exceed current building code high-wind provisions have a much better chance of surviving violent windstorms.
Protect all windows by installing commercial shutters or preparing 5/8 inch plywood panels.
Garage doors are frequently the first feature in a home to fail. Reinforce all garage doors so that they are able to withstand high winds.
If you do not live in an evacuation zone or a mobile home, designate an interior room with no windows or external doors as a “Safe Room”.
Before hurricane season, assess your property to ensure that landscaping and trees do not become a wind hazard.
Trim dead wood and weak / overhanging branches from all trees. Certain trees and bushes are vulnerable to high winds and any dead tree near a home is a hazard.
Consider landscaping materials other than gravel/rock.

*The above information is taken from National Hurricane Web site.

Find out how WindowZ, Inc. can protect your home from hurricanes.