CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With Hurricane Ian threatening the U.S. mainland, many are wondering how best to protect their homes from the storm.
Tuesday, the storm ripped through western Cuba as a major hurricane, leaving 1 million there without power. As Ian put Florida in the crosshairs next, some residents evacuated while others chose to hunker down in their homes.
Those staying loaded up on sandbags and boarded up their windows, trying to take as many precautions as possible against the expected elements.
THE QUESTION
Can closing interior doors protect your home during a high-wind event, like a hurricane?
THE SOURCES
- Sarah Dillingham, Senior Meteorologist, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
- Brad Panovich, Chief Meteorologist, WCNC Charlotte
THE ANSWER
Yes, closing interior doors can protect your home during a high-wind event.
WHAT WE FOUND
High winds can pose problems for a home, particularly if that wind is able to breach the home and disperse unfettered throughout the structure. With interior doors open, wind can apply pressure to all the walls and the roof, threatening the structural integrity, and creating the possibility of losing the roof altogether.
The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety has tested this scenario at its South Carolina facility.
"Through our research, we've actually been able to show that closing your interior doors can actually reduce the amount of uplift on your roof by as much as 30%," Dillingham said.
Panovich said one of the main ways wind is able to enter a home is through a garage door, particularly one that has not been fortified to handle high winds. However, closing interior doors can compartmentalize that wind just to the breached area, like a garage, keeping it from ripping apart other areas of the house.
The advice applies across all high-wind events.
"You can do that for thunderstorms, tornado events and hurricanes as well," Dillingham said.
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