A decorative shutter finishes a wall. A storm shutter is there so glass is less likely to break when wind pressure and flying debris hit the opening. FEMA’s writing treats that as protection of the building envelope, not as curb appeal. This page collects only claims that were read in FEMA, ASTM, or NOAA pages. It is not a design, and it does not say which product meets a local code.

What breaks, and why the opening matters

FEMA’s June 2019 Recovery Advisory on Hurricane Michael in Florida says wind damage to glazed openings comes from high wind pressure and from wind-borne debris hitting the glass. If the glass is not impact-resistant and is not protected by an impact-protective device, debris can open a large hole in the envelope. That hole raises internal wind pressure and lets in a lot of water. The advisory says this kind of damage was seen after Michael and is common after hurricanes.

The older FEMA 499 fact sheet (August 2005) makes the structural point in direct language: keeping the envelope intact, meaning no window or door breakage, matters to the structure of the house. If the envelope is breached, sudden pressurization of the interior can cause major structural damage, such as roof loss, and wind-driven rain damages the inside and the contents. Shutters and laminated glass are the two opening protections that sheet discusses. Designing the house as if the windows were already broken can satisfy a structural check, but the sheet says it does not protect the interior. Assume, it says, a total loss of interior and contents in that case.

Decorative is not the same object

A pair of shutters screwed flat beside a window, with no tested label and no way to cover the glass, is not the device in that FEMA sentence. The Pontiac Trail listing linked in the side column says its board-and-batten shutters are non-functional and decorative only. The other four listings describe raised-panel or open-louver exterior shutters in vinyl or polypropylene. None of the five titles or technical tables that were read states an impact rating, a missile test, or a design pressure. They are not described here as storm shutters.

Operable colonial, Bahama, roll-up, and accordion shutters — the four styles named in FEMA 499 and captioned again in the 2010-edition overview — are still not storm protection unless the assembly you bought is the tested one. The 2005 sheet’s line is worth keeping intact: “A shutter may look like it is capable of withstanding windborne missiles; unless it is tested, however, its missile resistance is unknown.”

The March 2022 FEMA fact sheet on wall openings is consistent with that. Install storm shutters to prevent windows from breaking because of hurricane wind pressure and wind-borne debris impact. Connect them securely to the wall framing. Install only shutters that have a label indicating they have been tested and are building-code compliant. Deployment is an active measure: someone has to close and secure them before the event, with enough time, and upper floors may take equipment as well as labor. After the event they are opened again. Motor-driven units, in the 2005 sheet, are the ones opened and closed from inside. They are not exempt from the label.

What “tested” points to

ASTM E1996, in the scope statement published on ASTM’s site for the E1996-26 edition, covers exterior windows, glazed curtain walls, doors, and impact protective systems used in buildings in geographic regions that are prone to hurricanes. Qualification under the specification is a basis for judging whether those parts of the envelope can remain unbreached during a hurricane, which minimizes interior damage and reduces internal pressurization. The scope says the specification was written for hurricanes and may be used for similar windstorms that can generate windborne debris. Exterior garage doors and rolling doors are excluded; ASTM says those are governed by ANSI/DASMA 115.

The public scope confirms that large-missile and small-missile tests exist. It does not list missile weights or speeds on the page that was read, so this site does not repeat secondhand numbers for them. FEMA’s 2005 fact sheet says ASCE 7 and the International Building Code, as of that sheet, require shutters or laminated glazing to be tested to ASTM E1886 and ASTM E1996, or another approved method. It says E1886 specifies the procedure and E1996 specifies the missile loads. Code editions move. The durable part is the label on the unit in front of you, not a memory of a 2005 clause.

The 2022 fact sheet also points wood-panel builders to APA’s Hurricane Shutter Design (APA T450) and says International Building Code section 1609.2 gives guidance on panel thickness. No thickness is copied here, because the code section itself was not the document that was read. Anchor wood panels so they do not become wind-borne debris. That instruction is in the 2022 sheet in plain words.

Where codes talk about debris regions

The 2019 Michael advisory’s table says that in wind-borne debris regions, glazed openings must be impact-resistant or protected with an impact-protective device such as a shutter. It cites the 2017 Florida Building Code, Residential, and the 2018 International Residential Code, sections R202 and R301.2.1.2. In a text box, FEMA quotes the 2017 Florida code’s definition and says that definition is consistent with ASCE 7, the IBC, and the IRC. The quoted definition is areas within hurricane-prone regions that are:

  • within 1 mile (1.61 km) of the coastal mean high water line where the ultimate design wind speed, Vult, is 130 mph (58 m/s) or greater, or
  • in areas where Vult is 140 mph (64.6 m/s) or greater, or
  • Hawaii.

Those figures are FEMA’s 2019 quotation of the 2017 Florida code, not a measurement made for this website, and not a map of your lot. Later editions and local amendments can differ. The advisory tells readers to use products that are tested and properly installed, and it points back to FEMA P-499 Fact Sheet 6.2. A building department, not this page, decides what applies to a permit.

The 2005 fact sheet used an earlier wind-speed map (basic wind speed, 3-second peak gust, with different mile-per-hour cutoffs). Those older cutoffs are not repeated here, so they are not mistaken for the ultimate-wind-speed definition FEMA quoted in 2019.

Water is a separate problem

Stopping a missile is not the same as stopping every drop of wind-driven rain. The 2019 advisory says water still gets in and around windows and doors in hurricanes, and it points to flashing, installation, and a product’s tested performance grade for water. A shutter over an old window does not, in that discussion, replace a window that was installed to keep water out. Do not read a debris label as a promise of a dry room.

The tracker link

NOAA’s NESDIS live hurricane tracker lets you see paths of previous hurricanes on this season’s map and interact with current hurricane-tracker satellite imagery, with National Hurricane Center information. For a particular storm, NESDIS says to go to hurricanes.gov. The link in the sidebar opens that tracker. It is not a product, and it is not a forecast issued by this site.

Sources

Not advice. ShuttersDirect.com is an educational guide. It does not manufacture, sell, fabricate, install, or ship shutters, and it is not an engineer, installer, or building official. Whether a shutter is right for an opening, and whether it counts as wind or debris protection, depends on the product label, how it is attached, and the rules in force for that building. Read the maker’s instructions and check with the local building department before ordering or installing anything meant for wind or flying debris.
Affiliate disclosure: ShuttersDirect.com participates in the Amazon Associates program and may earn a commission if you buy through Amazon links on this site. The price you pay does not change. Notes in the right-hand column come from each Amazon listing, not from a test by this site. An Associates tracking tag is not printed in this text.