Houston’s Chevron Building, Penzoil Tower, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Plaza and Hyatt Regency Downtown had broken windows in 4K

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — About 4,000 windows of downtown buildings were broken by recent storms, according to the Houston Downtown Management District.

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

“The layout of the buildings creates tunnels, so the wind speeds are very, very high,” said Raudel Avila, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Rice University.

Experts explain that the tunnel created can increase wind pressure.

Broken windows are on the east and west sides of the buildings. At least one upward-leaning window was ripped out of Penzoil Tower. The affected windows are located at the top and bottom of the building.

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

“There’s a huge variability between the orientation of the windows, the orientation of the winds that are coming in and how that material is deformed,” Avila said.

Avila said several factors may have caused the windows to explode, including fragile glass, flying debris and high wind pressure.

“When you put or apply any kind of pressure on the glass, it requires very minimal deformation before it completely shatters,” Avila said.

The streets around the affected buildings remain closed indefinitely for security reasons.

Street closures include:

• Andrews from Smith to Shaw

• 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 the Capitol to Rusk

• Lamar’s Travis in McKinney is partially closed

• Travis from Franklin to Commerce

For more on this story, follow Mycah Hatfield on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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