Garage Doors and Hurricanes in Manatee County
Updated 2026-10 · Bradenton, FL
Why the garage door matters
On most houses the garage door is the largest opening, and it is often the weakest. If it fails in a hurricane, wind enters the garage and pressurises it, pushing up on the roof from inside while the wind outside pulls at it. That is how a door failure becomes roof damage. It is the reason the Florida Building Code treats garage doors as part of the structure’s envelope and requires a product approval for replacements.
What Milton showed locally
Hurricane Milton made landfall at Siesta Key in October 2024, south of Bradenton. Before it arrived, officials expected surge worse than Helene’s two weeks earlier; in Manatee County the surge came in lower than feared because the eye passed to the south, and the damage was mostly wind. Early county estimates counted thousands of homes with major or minor damage in unincorporated Manatee County, with mobile home parks in Bradenton and Ellenton among the hardest hit. Wind is exactly the load a garage door is rated for.
Wind-rated, impact-rated, and braced
Wind-rated
Tested to hold its shape under a stated design pressure, positive and negative. Most doors sold in Manatee County are wind-rated as a matter of course.
Impact-rated
Also tested against wind-borne debris. Required for opening protection in wind-borne debris regions, which cover much of coastal Manatee County, unless an exception applies.
Bracing kits
Retrofit braces and posts that brace an existing door from inside before a storm. They can help an older non-rated door, but they are not the same as a door that carries a product approval, and a brace on its own does not change what the building department or an insurer will count.
The mistakes that weaken a rated door
- Removing reinforcing struts to make a heavy door easier to lift instead of fixing the springs
- Replacing a damaged section with a non-matching panel from a different model
- Running a door with loose or missing track bolts, which is where the wind load is carried to the wall
- Leaving a door that does not close square, because the gap at a corner is where wind gets behind the sections
Before the season, not the week of the storm
Check that the door closes fully and evenly, that the bottom seal meets the floor all the way across, and that every track bolt is tight. Make sure everyone in the house knows how to pull the emergency release and re-engage the opener, because the power usually goes. If the opener has a backup battery, test it. If the door is old, not rated, or has not closed square for a while, the months before June are the time to deal with it, because after a storm every company in the county has a waiting list and suppliers run short of rated doors.
After a storm
Do not run the door if it flexed visibly, if a track has moved, or if daylight shows at a corner. Photograph any damage before anything is moved, for insurance. Then have it inspected. Tracks, struts and jamb fasteners can be damaged without the door looking different from outside.
Door not closing square with storm season coming? Call, and a local garage door company will look at it before the forecast gets busy.
Where to go next
Common questions
Should I brace my garage door before a hurricane?
If it is not wind-rated, a retrofit bracing kit can help. If it is rated, the more useful step is making sure it closes fully, its track bolts are tight and its struts are in place.
Does a hurricane-rated door need to be impact-rated?
Not always. Impact rating is required for opening protection in wind-borne debris regions, and there is an exception for some pre-2001 homes. Your building department decides for your address.