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One thing that has stood out from our past hurricanes in central Florida and also from watching those around the country is the real large propensity for folks to board up windows.

But it has also seemed, at least with our limited experience (with fairly weak hurricanes overall), that there was rather minimal breakage of windows left unprotected.

Certainly it's a complicated relationship, and things like debris quantity and exposure vary greatly. But nonetheless, I wonder if anyone has taken any basic statistics. Even those could greatly help in focusing preparation messages; saying "you're about X times more likely to have a window break at XXX mph versus XXX mph" would be quite useful, as would "only X% of windows break during a category 1 hurricane".

Certainly the stronger the wind, the more vital that windows endure, as any breakage could well undermine the structure at stronger wind speeds. But it'd just be great to be able to offer more informed statements if they exist!

JeopardyTempest
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    This question is probably better suited to SE Engineering because it asks about the affect of wind on anthropogenic structures. The strength of the window glass will be one factor, the window installation practices & overall strength will be another factor, as will be the wind strength & the angle of impact by the wind. – Fred Sep 01 '17 at 01:06
  • @Fred, do you think it would find much traction there? More interested in practical statistics, even if imperfect, rather than a review of the key factors affecting variability or idealized calculations. Other severe weather or wind tunnel tests might offer some background, but would be best if they likewise offer a typical cross-section of representation rather than any tests under optimal situations. – JeopardyTempest Sep 01 '17 at 01:38
  • Seems you have a lot of history there, so certainly interested if you think it'd have a good shot there. Otherwise I'd think emergency managers or storm surveyors might be able to offer top answers (though indeed such folks are limited here, if nothing else, it'd offer a worthwhile question should such they navigate in some day in the future) – JeopardyTempest Sep 01 '17 at 01:38
  • I don't know that there's going to be an answer to your question because of the variables involved: winds from hurricanes in one situation & non-hurricane winds in another, the orientation of houses & which windows will be affected by the wind. From my observations, windows are boarded to prevent damage from flying debris. Just as a side note: there was a suggestion many years ago, that all windows & doors should be left open when hurricanes approach to left the wind flow through. When a window breaks, for whatever reason, & all the other windows remain – Fred Sep 01 '17 at 12:25
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    shut, when the wind enters the house it is blocked & finds the path of least resistance, which usually means it punched a hole in the roof which then exposes the house to water damage from subsequent rain. – Fred Sep 01 '17 at 12:26
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    Window wind speed rating . – Keith McClary Sep 03 '17 at 00:15
  • @KeithMcClary that's pretty interesting! Hadn't heard of such a thing. Are typical windows DP-20 then, since that's the lowest value listed on the first PDF, and none of the subsequent links seem to clarify better? – JeopardyTempest Sep 03 '17 at 00:49
  • Don't know much about it except I remember this incident: Building debris caused by Calgary windstorm prompts call for building code review. – Keith McClary Sep 03 '17 at 02:50
  • This table seems to offer some insight perhaps, though would need more research into the applicable locations and situations. – JeopardyTempest Oct 29 '17 at 02:50

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