Understanding Wind Risks: Common Myths and How to Protect Your Home

No matter where you live, wind can wreak havoc on your home and lead to a cascade of damage. Many homeowners underestimate the risk and have misconceptions about protecting their properties from loss. Take a closer look at common myths when it comes to severe weather damage and learn ways to better protect your home from the next storm.

Wind Hazards and Effects

It’s not just hurricanes and tornadoes that cause major damage to homes. In fact, storm winds as low as 50 mph can cause damage that allows water to enter your home. For example, aging roof covers, like shingles, can lift and tear along with the underlayment during high winds exposing the roof deck. When this happens, falling rain can easily leak through the gaps in the wood and into the attic, starting a cascade of damage.

Unless properly protected, windows and doors can be broken by flying debris or even storm pressures, allowing wind to rush inside. Similarly, the garage door, the largest opening in a home, is one of its most vulnerable areas. High winds can force garage doors inward causing pressure to build inside and push up on the roof and out on walls. When either of these happen, it can result in roof or structural damage.

While storms vary in intensity, they all have the potential to cause damage.

• Light winds (below 40 mph) can loosen roof shingles and siding, break small tree branches, and blow around unsecured outdoor items.
• Moderate winds (40-54 mph) can tear off older roof shingles, damage awnings and lead to debris that breaks windows, and topple shallow-rooted trees.
• Strong winds (55-73 mph) can cause substantial damage to roofs, siding, and windows, uproot trees, and overturn mobile homes.
• Severe winds (74+ mph) can tear off roofs, collapse walls, topple trees, and turn unsecured objects into dangerous projectiles, and even destroy homes.

Common Myths About Wind and Protection

Let’s debunk common misconceptions about severe weather:

Myth: Only hurricanes and tornadoes can cause significant damage to my home.

Fact: Even thunderstorms with wind speeds as low as 50 mph can cause damage that allows water to enter a home. Wind can rip off your roof covering, exposing the wood beneath and allowing water to seep through the gaps, entering your home and causing a cascade of damage.

Action: Take science-backed steps in the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) Thunderstorm Ready guide, including annual maintenance and upgrades, as well as ahead of severe thunderstorms to help reduce potential damage during the next storm. Investing in added protection, such as FORTIFIED, can add a layer of defense across high wind events.

Myth: Taping your windows will prevent them from breaking.

Fact: Taping windows provides no protection and even wastes valuable time.

Action: Although they carry an added cost, the best protection comes from impact-resistant windows or hurricane shutters that meet testing standards found in FORTIFIED. If you live in a hurricane-prone area and have not invested in window protection, use plywood that is at least ¾ inch thick as a last resort. Even with window protection, it’s important to stay clear of them during high wind events to reduce the risk of injury from flying debris.

Myth: You can’t survive a violent tornado unless you’re underground.

Fact: While basements and storm shelters provide the best protection, survival is possible in well-constructed above-ground safe rooms. Public shelters also are available if not at home.

Action: If you don’t have a basement or underground storm shelter, take shelter in an interior room on the lowest floor without windows, such as a bathroom, closet, or hallway, or find a public shelter near you. The most effective option is to purchase and install a tornado safe room compliant with FEMA P-320 standards. View IBHS’s Thunderstorm Ready resources for more information.

Myth: Homes must be built like fortresses or with unorthodox designs, like geodesic domes, to withstand high wind events.

Fact: Homes of many materials, if built using science-backed standards, are proven to withstand severe weather. Upgrades like stronger roof-to-wall connections, impact-resistant windows, a FORTIFIED Roof and reinforced garage doors greatly improve wind resistance.

Action: When strengthening your home, focus on vulnerable areas that can be reinforced during re-roofing or renovation projects.

Myth: Tornadoes don’t cross mountains, rivers, or lakes.

Fact: Tornadoes can and do cross geographic features. While terrain can sometimes influence tornado paths, no natural barrier stops their movement. According to the National Weather Service, tornadoes have crossed the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

Action: Listen to local weather authorities, who may tell you to shelter in place, when severe weather is imminent no matter where you are.

Myth: Wind damage isn’t preventable, so there’s no point in investing in resilience.

Fact: Scientific research shows that homes built or retrofitted to standards like the Insurance Institute for Business Home & Safety (IBHS) FORTIFIED program have performed significantly better during high-wind events.

Action: Consider implementing proven wind-resistant features when building, remodeling, or replacing your roof. You can build resilience on your budget based on science-backed mitigation actions from IBHS.

Myth: My house was built to code, so I’m fully protected from risk.

Fact: Building codes set minimum safety standards for construction, but they vary by region and state. While some codes have gotten stronger over time, even building codes only a few years old may not incorporate the latest research on wind resistance. Modern building codes, when adopted and enforced, are effective in saving lives, reducing property damage, reducing the disruption in residents’ lives, and strengthening the resilience of communities.

Action: If you live in an area without a modern adopted and enforced building code, you still have the power to better protect your home. Upgrade to a FORTIFIED Roof, which is backed by decades of IBHS research and goes beyond most building codes.

A study by NC State’s Institute for Advanced Analytics found that homes with a FORTIFIED Roof were 34% less likely to file an insurance claim after Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Dorian, and Isaias. Even when claims were filed, FORTIFIED homes sustained less damage compared to those built to conventional standards.

Myth: My insurance company will pay to repair all my storm damage.

Fact: Standard homeowners’ insurance typically covers storm damage, but some policies have exclusions or may require you to obtain additional coverage, such as flood insurance, to cover all damage. Some policies now include wind and hail deductibles that differ from standard deductibles. In several cases, these equal a percentage of a home’s value. For example, the owner of a $250,000 home with a 4% wind deductible will have to pay the first $10,000 for any repairs and some policies do not cover full replacement costs.

Action: Review your insurance policy with your agent to understand wind and flood coverage, deductibles and exclusions. If gaps exist, consider additional coverage.

Myth: My home insurance coverage rises automatically with home value.

Fact: While an agent will likely rerun a home’s value at renewal and then update policy limits, accordingly, be mindful of the impacts of inflation throughout your term. If home values and construction costs have increased significantly during your policy term, you may not have enough coverage to rebuild.

Action: Review your coverage annually with your insurer, especially if you’ve made significant home improvements or if construction costs or home values have risen quickly and adjust your coverage to avoid being underinsured.

Investing In Proactive Wind Protection

No matter what weather you face, there are actions you can take to reduce your risk and minimize damage from future events. Identify steps from IBHS’s Thunderstorm Ready guide that can help you address vulnerabilities around your home that meet your budget.

Read more of our tips and ideas in the Homeowner Resources section.