Hurricane Storm Damage

The hurricane is one of Mother Nature's most powerful events, capable of destroying property and lives. Unlike the tornado, which does most of its damage within seconds or minutes, a hurricane has the potential to pound an area over the course of hours or days, causing even more problems. There are many types of specific damage that are likely when a hurricane strikes.

Flooding Dangers

• One of the most obvious types of damage from a hurricane is from the water it brings. These storms come from the ocean and bring heavy rains and high and powerful storm surges on shore that can put streets, cars and buildings under water in a very short time.

  Flooding can damage the foundations of homes and saturate appliances and furniture, rendering them useless, as well as turn drywall and other building materials into mush. This moisture inside homes following a hurricane, even if the structure was spared, can cause it to be infested with dangerous mold that will likely require professional cleanup.

Wind and Glass Breakage

• Winds from a hurricane can reach anywhere from 70 miles per hour all the way up to nearly 200 miles per hour. With this wind comes flying debris that can easily knock out the glass in buildings or automobiles.

  Glass breakage is a common type of damage from hurricanes that is expensive to replace and can be very dangerous to those inside a structure when the breakage happens. A house is also weaker structurally once the windows have been broken, meaning the forceful storm is more likely to collapse the home.

Roof Lifting

• A roof's ledge can act just like the wing of an airplane. The wind from the hurricane can lift the roof and potentially peel it right off of the structure. When a roof gets pulled off during a hurricane, the support for the building is immediately removed and the home is far more likely to be lost completely. A steep sloping roof is more likely to withstand the force of the wind.

Rotten Food

• With a major hurricane usually comes a loss of power for an extended period of time for the affected area. A loss of power means a loss of refrigeration. In these instances all perishable foods are in danger of spoiling at a time when it may be difficult for families to get more groceries.

  When a hurricane warning is issued, many people stock up on canned and non-perishable foods as well as bottled water to offset the possibility that they may be left with spoiled food.

Catastrophic Damage

• Some areas hit by extremely powerful hurricanes can suffer catastrophic damage that may take many years to recover from. In rare cases, a town may have to be partially or totally rebuilt following this kind of impact.

  Homestead, Florida, experienced catastrophic damage in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew passed through, and portions of the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast suffered catastrophic damage during Hurricane Katrina in 1995.