High Wind

It means damaging wind is expected — without a thunderstorm, hurricane, or tornado involved. Straight-line wind can do just as much harm.

These thresholds vary by region, because what is routine on the plains is damaging on the coast — your local forecast office sets its own. The 58 mph figure is worth remembering though: it is the same threshold that makes a thunderstorm officially severe, and roughly where structural damage begins.

Almost every wind injury comes from something that was sitting loose outside. Walk the property and deal with it:

• ·Bring inside — patio furniture, cushions, umbrellas, grills, trash cans, planters, garden tools
• ·Take down — hanging signs, decorations, wind chimes, shade sails, anything on a hook
• ·Trim — dead or overhanging branches, before the wind selects them for you
• ·Reinforce the garage door — it is the largest and weakest opening on most houses, and once it fails the wind is inside
• ·Move vehicles into a garage, or at least out from under trees

One pass through the yard is the highest-value ten minutes you can spend. A plastic chair at 60 mph goes through a window.

Avoid it if you can. If you must drive:

• ·Both hands on the wheel, and slow down — crosswind gusts arrive without warning
• ·Be ready for the gap — leaving the shelter of a building, a treeline, or a large truck is where the sudden push happens
• ·Give high-profile vehicles room — trucks, buses, trailers and vans are the ones that get blown across lanes
• ·Watch for debris and downed lines, and expect signals to be out
• ·Do not park under trees or beside anything that could come down

If you are towing a trailer or driving something tall, treat a High Wind Warning as a reason to wait. Bridges and open stretches are the worst of it.

Assume every downed line is live, and stay back — at least 30 feet. They do not spark or hum reliably, so there is no way to tell by looking.

• ·Call 911 and your utility. Do not wait for someone else to report it.
• ·Stay away from anything touching it — a fence, a puddle, a wet branch, a car. Electricity travels through all of them.
• ·If a line falls on your car, stay inside and call for help. The tyres are not what protects you, and stepping out is what closes the circuit.
• ·Never move a line, with any object, wood included.

Also assume a line is hiding under fallen branches before you start clearing them.

Start from the ground, and stay there if you can.

• ·Walk the perimeter and look up — missing or lifted shingles, exposed underlay, bent flashing, damaged siding
• ·Check the gutters and the ground for granules, shingle pieces, or torn metal
• ·Look inside too — stains on ceilings, damp in the attic, daylight where there should not be any
• ·Photograph everything before you clean up. Insurers want the damage as it was found

Do not climb up on a wet or wind-damaged roof, and do not go up at all if lines are down nearby. Anything structural — sagging, shifted framing, a large opening — needs a professional, not a ladder. A tarp is a holding measure, not a repair.