Keeping Your Home Safe in Strong Winds | SERVPRO of West Milwaukee

6/5/2023 (Permalink)

If you've suffered from storm-related damage to your home or business, make SERVPRO of West Milwaukee your first call.

The wind is an ever-present weather phenomenon that we can experience in a variety of ways. A soft breeze on a summer day can feel idyllic, while a strong gusty wind during a thunderstorm can have you running for the safety of your home.

When the wind starts to pick up, it can cause a great deal of damage in a short amount of time. Most damaging wind is associated with thunderstorms, but it can happen on a sunny day as well.

By learning more about the different kinds of strong winds and the damage they cause, you can take steps to protect your home now so you are prepared for any weather.

<h3wind-types-in-wisconsin">Common Wind Types in Wisconsin

Over half of all reported damaging wind is caused by thunderstorms, and even more when a tornado is present. You should always follow weather warnings and head indoors as soon as a storm rolls into town.

Thunderstorms can produce some strong winds in addition to other threats, like rain and hail. It can easily reach up to 60 miles per hour, which is fast enough to throw debris around your yard.

Straight-line winds are also often caused by thunderstorms. These wide-reaching winds can gust up to 100 miles per hour and can damage parts of town that don’t even see rain. They can cause widespread damage because there isn’t any rotation in them and can occur in single powerful bursts.

Tornadoes are also a common weather threat, and they carry a wider variety of wind patterns. Wind produced in a tornado can be straight-line winds, downdrafts, and micro- or macro-bursts.

Tornadoes don’t often touch down in Milwaukee County, but that doesn’t mean we don’t experience wind damage. Even just a few weeks ago we experienced a storm with wind that reached over 75 miles per hour!

<h3to-prevent-wind-damage">Tips to Prevent Wind Damage

Wind can easily topple trees and make your lawn furniture take flight, and it can even upend mobile homes and cars if it blows fast enough.

In order to stay safe from the wind, you need to know what the different weather alerts mean and act accordingly. You need to secure loose objects like trash cans and porch chairs, and consider moving your car into the garage before the storm arrives.

Clean up yard debris and remove fallen branches off of your property. If the wind picks up a branch, it can easily become a projectile that can cause a lot of damage to your home and windows.

Once your home is ready for the wind, get your family inside to an interior room to wait out the weather. Don’t go back outside until you are confident that the threat has passed.

Take a walk around your home and your property to look for damage after the storm is gone. You should address any damage right away, even if it is just a single missing shingle. SERVPRO of West Milwaukee can help you recover right away!

Has your home been damaged by wind? Call us and get things cleaned up fast.