What to Do Immediately After Storm Damage to Your Roof
The first 48 hours after a storm matter for both your home and your insurance claim — here's the right order of operations.
Immediate priorities
Safety first: stay off the roof yourself, especially in continued wind or rain, and check for any immediate hazards like downed power lines or large debris near the home. If there's an active leak, place buckets or containers to catch water and, if safely accessible, move valuables away from the affected area.
Take photos of any visible damage from the ground — shingles in the yard, obvious roof damage visible from a safe vantage point, and any interior water intrusion. This is your own independent record, separate from whatever an adjuster later documents.
Getting a professional inspection quickly
Hail bruising and wind-lifted shingles are frequently invisible from the ground, which is why a professional inspection matters even if the damage isn't obvious. Getting this done promptly after a storm — rather than weeks later — makes for cleaner documentation, since weathering and subsequent storms can make it harder to attribute damage to a specific date.
Filing the claim
Contact your insurer with your policy number and the storm date once you have documentation. If your roof has an active leak, ask about emergency mitigation coverage — many policies cover temporary tarping to prevent further interior damage while the claim is processed. See our full insurance claims guide for the complete step-by-step process.