Hurricane Preparedness
"Approximately 80% of residential hurricane wind damage starts with wind entry through garage doors."
Hurricane Guide for Hillsborough County
"If the garage door fails, winds can enter your home and blow out doors, windows, walls and the roof."
"Avoiding Hurricane Damage: A Checklist for Homeowners"
by Federal Emergency Management Agency (.pdf format)
"Make improvements to reinforce your home, paying close attention to the roof, windows and garage openings."
Allstate Insurance Catastrophe Information Center
"Reinforce garage doors"
"How to Prepare for a Weather Emergency"
from First Floridian, a Travelers Group insurance company
"If the wind breaks through windows and doors, it creates interior forces that want to push the roof off the walls, and push the walls over. Therefore windows and doors must be strong enough to stay in place."
"Will My House Survive?"
By Inspectional Services Division, City of Tampa
"Reinforce the garage door, or replace it."
"Sand in My Shoes: A guide to living with Florida's coast."
From the Storm-proofing section of a brochure by the Florida Department of Community Affairs
"The exterior walls, doors, and windows are the protective shell of your home. If your home's protective shell is broken, high winds can enter and put pressure on your roof and walls, causing damage. A common misunderstanding is that windows should be left open to equalize and stabilize pressure on your home. The truth is that if hurricane winds enter any opening, damage is much more likely to occur due to increased internal pressure on walls and roof supports. MAKE SURE ALL WINDOWS, DOORS AND OPENINGS ARE COMPLETELY COVERED AND BRACED."
"Preparing Your Home for a Hurricane"
American Red Cross brochure (.pdf format)
"Make sure garage doors and railing are anchored properly and built to withstand high winds. There should be effective bracing on the inside as well, with several new devices for this on the market. Garage doors that broke were blamed for considerable damage to homes in Andrew."
"Hurricane, Are You Ready?"
State Farm Insurance brochure
Comment: As your garage door professional we recognize there are many informational sources on how to prepare for high wind storms. Some of these suggest do-it-yourself methods of bracing the garage door. Please consider the following remarks from the garage door manufacturer's trade association: DASMA.
"Adding weight, particularly non-manufacturerer-specified reinforcement, to a door can create a dangerous situation that may result in property damage and/or personal injury. Owners should avoid adding reinforcement to a garage door themselves. This will increase the weight of the door and may result in failure or collapse of the supporting tracks or other components that may not be suitable to carry the extra weight. Upgrading garage doors by adding reinforcement must be performed as a package that includes appropriate springs and hardware and supporting track. Contact a trained door systems technician regarding this matter."
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