Hurricane Experts Advise Against Taping Windows

With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the Northeast, we thought it might be a good time to re-post our March 2012 article regarding taping windows as hurricane preparation.

Meeting in Orlando,  FL this week, the National Hurricane Conference is making a new recommendation to homeowners as we approach the hurricane season that starts in June.

The Conference is trying to change the myth that has developed about the value of putting tape on windows and glass doors in expectation of a storm.

Instead of keeping the window from breaking, research by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes has shown that taping actually creates larger, and more dangerous shards of glass when the window inevitably breaks, whether it is taped or not.  Taping does not prevent or reduce the likelihood of breakage.

Speaking for the Alliance, CEO Leslie Chapman pointed to an incident in 2004 when a death attributed to Hurricane Charlie was directly tied to glass breakage.

Add the time for taping and clean up, lost evacuation time and the cost, and window taping is a bad idea.

You can read more about the conference by clicking here.

 

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