About 4,000 high-rise building windows shattered in downtown Houston from recent storms

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- About 4,000 windows in buildings downtown have shattered from recent storms, according to the Houston Downtown Management District.

The affected buildings include the Chevron Building, Penzoil Tower, Bank of America Building, Wells Fargo Plaza, and Hyatt Regency Downtown.

"The building arrangement creates tunnels so the wind speeds are very, very high," Raudel Avila, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Rice University, explained.

Experts explain that the tunnel that is created can increase the pressure from the wind.

The shattered windows are on the buildings' east and west sides. At least one window angled upward was blown out of the Penzoil Tower. The affected windows are at the top and bottom of the building.

RELATED: Downtown Houston hit with more glass falling from windows of high-rise buildings

"There's a huge variability between kind of the orientation of the windows, the orientation of the winds that are coming, and how that material is being deformed," Avila said.

Avila explained that several factors may have caused the windows to blow out, including brittle glass, flying debris, and high wind pressure.

"When you put or apply some sort of pressure to the glass, they require very, very minimal deformation before they just completely shatter," Avila said.

Streets around the affected buildings remain closed for an undetermined time for safety.

Street closures include:

• Smith from Clay to Pease

• Andrews from Smith to Shaw

• Shaw to Ruthven

• Bell from Milam to Smith

• Louisiana from Pease to Clay, and from Polk to McKinney

• Dallas from Smith to Milam

• Lamar from Milam to Smith

• McKinney from Smith to Milam

• Milam from Capitol to Rusk

• Travis from Lamar to McKinney is partially closed

• Travis from Franklin to Commerce

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RELATED: Downtown Houston riddled with glass after storm tore windows out of high-rise buildings