Remodeling, April 1st, 2006
In a major windstorm, such as a hurricane or a tornado, it's the windows and doors that usually hold a house together. "Once you breach the envelope, the air rushing in pressurizes the building just like blowing up a balloon," explains Scott Schiff, civil engineering professor and director of Clemson University's Wind Load Test Facility. In the best case, intense wind pressures invading the home blow out the windows, equalizing the pressure before severe structural damage occurs, but more often, the roof or whole wall sections blow out. "The house literally explodes," Schiff says.
The incid...
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