It's an old tornado myth....
Actually the WORST thing to do in a building in a tornado (or hurricane) is open any windows or doors.
Buildings don't explode from the low pressure; they loose their roof from air getting into the building through openings and lifting the roof off.
Unfortunately the whole "you need to open a window thing" was actually in NWS brochures in the 1950s, and it's been impossible to kill this bad advice since.
Thanks I will keep that in mind if I'm in a tornado.
Had some 80mph winds here one night that was about enough for me.
2. WIND IS WIND
Aerodynamic forces are induced as air flows over and around buildings. As a result, the greatest outward (or uplift) wind pressures occur around windward walls, roof corners, eaves, and ridges. The damage due to wind typically involves the removal of wall cladding and roof coverings at these locations. Damage surveys by McDonald and Marshall [1983] after tornadoes and Savage [1984] after hurricanes have revealed the same types of building response regardless of the phenomenon creating the wind.
Mehta et al. [1975] and Abernathy [1976] determined that large-span structures, such as auditoriums and gymnasiums, are quite vulnerable in high winds owing to their large surface areas which induce large loads. Such buildings have been just as susceptible to wind damage in hurricanes as in tornadoes. The general consensus now is that people should avoid shelter in auditoriums and gymnasiums during any type of windstorm.
3. BUILDINGS DO NOT EXPLODE
It was once thought that the low pressure within tornadoes caused buildings to explode. This theory was based on the erroneous assumption that a building somehow remains structurally intact after passing the radius of maximum winds on the periphery of the tornado. Furthermore, the theory assumes that the building remained sealed such that the barometric pressure inside the building can become significantly greater than outside.
Studies of tornado damage presented by Mehta [1976] and Minor [1976] indicated that building damage initiates from wind pressure breaching the building, not from low barometric pressure. The wind typically enters the building through broken windows or doors. Evidence of mud, insulation, glass shards, and wood missiles inside buildings that remain partially intact indicate wind had entered the buildings. Openings on the windward side of a building actually increase the internal wind pressures, resulting in additional uplift on the roof (Figure 1). Thus persons are no longer advised to open their windows in advance of a tornado. Another reason is that flying debris will likely break the windows anyway; thus people should use any advance warning time to seek appropriate shelter rather than opening windows.
Actually, the reason buildings 'explode' during a tornado or high winds, is that the AIR PRESSURE on the outside of the structure is much LOWER than the air pressure on the inside of the structure.
Once the pressure differential between the inside and outside gets too much, the INSIDE AIR PRESSURE pushes the walls and roof OUT. The gas (air) inside has to expand to fill the LOWER PRESSURE OUTSIDE the structure.
If the winds blow hard enough on the Superdome structure and create extremely LOW PRESSURE zones, like wings on a plane create low pressure on the wing and cause it to lift UP, then the SuperDome structure will also create LIFT into the low pressure zone as the internal air pressure (under the wing-roof-walls) reacts to the lift...poof, one dome opens up like a JiffyPop!!