Roof storm damage from hail or high wind puts you on the clock, and the hours right after a storm matter. What you do — or don’t do — in that window can affect both how much damage spreads through your home and how smoothly your insurance claim goes. Here’s the order of operations to follow.
1. Make Sure Everyone Is Safe First
Before anything else, account for everyone in the household and check for immediate hazards: downed power lines, unstable trees or branches, or structural damage to the home itself. Keep children and pets inside until you’ve confirmed the property is safe to walk around. Roof damage will still be there in an hour — a downed line won’t wait for you to notice it.
2. Inspect Hail and Wind Damage From the Ground Only
Never climb onto a roof after a storm, even if it looks stable from below. A wet, wind-lifted, or already-damaged roof is far more dangerous than it appears, and climbing up to inspect it yourself is one of the most common ways homeowners get hurt after severe weather. Do your first inspection from the ground, walking slowly around the perimeter of the house. Look for missing or displaced shingles, dented or detached gutters and downspouts, damaged window screens, debris in the yard that came off the roof or siding, and any visible damage to flashing or soffit areas.
3. Document Everything
Grab your phone and start photographing before you touch or clean up anything. Capture clear photos and video from safe positions around the home: visible exterior impact points, scattered debris, dented gutters, displaced shingles or tiles, and any interior signs of leaking such as ceiling stains or damp drywall. The more thorough your documentation, the stronger your position if there’s ever a dispute with your insurance company later. Date-stamped photos taken the same day as the storm carry more weight than photos taken weeks later.
4. Stop Water From Spreading Indoors
If water is actively coming through the ceiling, your priority shifts to containing it. Set up buckets or containers to catch dripping water, and use plastic sheeting to protect floors, furniture, and electronics from runoff. If you can safely access the area, a tarp placed over an exterior leak point — extending at least 4 feet beyond the visible damage in every direction — can buy time until a professional repair happens. Leave any tarping that requires getting on the roof itself to a professional.
5. File Your Roof Insurance Claim
Contact your insurer as soon as it’s practical to open a roof insurance claim and get a claim number on record. Timing matters here: most policies have a window, often around one year, to file a claim related to a specific storm event, and the clock starts ticking from the date of the damage, not the date you happen to get around to calling. Have your documentation ready when you call, and ask your adjuster what their process and timeline look like before you commit to any repairs. For a closer look at that process, see our step-by-step roof insurance claim guide.
6. Get a Professional Roof Inspection
Once you’ve reported the damage to your insurer, schedule an inspection with a licensed, local roofing contractor — ideally one with experience handling insurance claims specifically. A professional can identify damage that isn’t visible from the ground, such as bruised shingles or compromised flashing that hasn’t started leaking yet but will eventually fail. Avoid signing a repair contract with anyone who shows up uninvited door-to-door immediately after a storm; reputable contractors are typically scheduling inspections, not canvassing neighborhoods.
7. Hold Off on Permanent Repairs Until It’s Documented
It’s reasonable to do emergency mitigation — tarping, water containment — right away to prevent further damage. But avoid finishing permanent repairs before your insurance adjuster has had a chance to see the damage in person, if that’s feasible within your timeline. Repairing before documentation is complete can sometimes complicate a claim, since the adjuster has less to verify against your photos and the contractor’s assessment.
The Takeaway
Speed matters for safety and for containing water damage, but rushing into repairs or skipping documentation can cost you more in the long run than the extra day or two it takes to do this in order: safety check, ground inspection, photos, temporary mitigation, insurance call, then professional inspection. That sequence protects both your home and your claim.
GAF’s storm damage resource guide is another solid reference for homeowners navigating this process for the first time.
