When it comes to storm shutters, we can all see the obvious protection they offer against flying projectiles. There’s a big storm and a tree limb crashes through your window. Rain and wind blow in, and some of your stuff gets wet. No one wants that, right? It would be great if that was the extent of the potential damage, but you stand to lose a lot more when a window breaks during a hurricane; namely – your roof.

Hurricane Damage
What’s missing from this picture? A broken window is the least of their worries.

Here’s a science lesson: when an unprotected window or door breaks during a hurricane, the entire house quickly becomes pressurized by the wind blowing in. As the internal pressure in the house builds dramatically, high winds are rushing over the roof, and you’ve literally got a pressure-cooker situation. It’s just a matter of time before the combined forces of the pressure inside and the suction outside rip the roof off. Once the roof is gone, the structure is weakened to the point that it may completely collapse. Now ALL your stuff is wet. And crushed. And blown all over the neighborhood. The up side? You get to be on the news.

Fortunately, there are many kinds of hurricane shutters that can prevent this from happening. Rolling shutters provide the best protection, but storm panels, accordion shutters and Bahama shutters will all protect your windows from wind-borne projectiles. An affordable and easy-to-install alternative to solid storm shutters is wind-abatement hurricane screens. While they’re less effective than solid shutters at deflecting projectiles (they’re flexible, and work like a trampoline), in the event a window breaks, they’ll stop 97% of the wind from coming in. As a result, little pressure builds up in the house, and you get to keep your roof.

You’ll be doing a lot more than sweeping up broken glass if your window breaks during a hurricane. Fortunately, there are lots of storm shutter options to make sure your stuff stays safe, dry, and out of your neighbor’s yard.