Severe summer thunderstorms can damage your home
with hail, wind or flooding. While some
damage may be unavoidable if you plan well you can reduce the chance that you
experience disastrous damage during a storm.
In every state this summer storm season there will
be damage to homes. Wind, hail, lightning,
and flooding that comes with severe thunderstorms is responsible for much of
the damage. Much of the structural
damage will be minimal, but a few homeowners will experience large amounts of
damage. If you want to avoid being one
of the homeowners that has serious damage to their home plan ahead and youll
have a better chance of escaping the summer storm season with serious damage.
Thunderstorms can all cause damage, but severe
storms are the biggest concern. Severe
thunderstorms are to blame for most of the property damage they are dangerous
storms. Around 10,000 thunderstorms are labeled
by the National Weather service as severe every storm season. Tornados, large
hail, high wind, and lightning can all be produced during these storms.
Hail is the largest
cause of damage. The most damage during
severe storms is caused by hail this damage includes structures, vehicles, and
crops. More than a billion dollars in
cost every year is estimated caused by hail.
On the bright side your home can withstand smaller hail many times
without sustaining damage. The larger
the hail is the harder the hail stone is.
Hail that is as large as 1 in diameter can cause damage to your
home. Vehicles are not as strong and can
be damaged by hail only .75 in diameter. Crops are the most easily affected,
and may possibly be damaged by hail as small as .25.
You have to plan for
prevention well before you hear the patter of hail on your roof. Your roof is the structure most likely to be
damaged in the hail. Quality roofing
materials are important in standing up against storms. Minneapolis roofing companies can tell you
what materials are you best bet in surviving the storms. Maintenance of your roof is as important as
the materials you start with. Regular,
yearly maintenance must be done on your roof.
After hail
straight-line wind is the next most frequent cause of summer storm damage. Severe wind is at least 60 miles per
hour, though some windstorms can get as fast as 100 miles per hour! Winds ranging from 60 mph and up lead to
damage of your home and be incredibly dangerous.
Tornados are severe
rotating columns of wind as oppose to straight line winds. About 1200 tornados take place every year
according to the National Weather Service. Most of these tornados have winds of
less than 110 miles per hour and are labeled as weak tornados. These weak tornados luckily dont cause
many deaths. What they do is cause a ton
of structural damage.
Severe wind has the greatest effect on roofs and siding. The damage to both of these areas can
be reduced if extra effort is put in during the construction phase. When deciding between Minneapolis roofing
companies remember this decision will affect you and your roof for many storm
seasons to come! Your decking should be strongly
anchored to your walls and foundation, this comes with a well designed roof. This anchoring will stop your entire roof
from being physically removed in a big storm!
Attaching your shingles to your roof is also important. The best quality shingle poorly attached will
still come up in a severe wind.
Maintaining the trees on your property is very
important. Dead and weak limbs could
fall and cause damage to your roof in the next windstorm so they should be
removed. Removing these bad branches
will bring down the chance your roof sustains damage in a summer storm.
Hail, straight-line
winds
, and tornados are all possible in a summer storm. Minneapolis roofing companies can help you to
find the materials that will best handle these storms. Quality materials and a reliable roofer will
best prepare your home to handle a storm.
Practicing regular maintenance of both your roof AND surrounding trees
will also save you from the stress of storm damage.