Hurricane Myths - Exploding house!
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Welcome to this National Weather Service video presentation. My name is Nicole Carlisle and
today we want to talk about a popular hurricane myth: keeping a door or window open in order
to equalize the pressure inside your house.
The claim of this myth states that you sholuld not cover all your doors and windows prior
to a hurricane because as the atmospheric pressure decreases around the center of a
hurricane, the relatively higher pressure inside your home could cause your roof or
walls to collapse. Therefore, you should leave a door or window open on the opposite side
from where the wind is blowing in order to equalize the pressure.
Doing this however is not recommended. Studies have shown that this practice does little
or nothing to protect your home.
In fact, leaving a door or window unprotected will only increase your chances for the wind
and rain to enter your home and cause extensive damage. Therefore, you should close all your
windows and doors in the event of a hurricane. And, although plywood panels are one of the
most popular choices, hurricane shutters offer much better protection for your windows and doors.
For more information about hurricane preparedness, visit weather.gov/tampa.
And join us next time when we'll debunk another hurricane myth. Thanks for watching.
