What counts as storm damage to a roof
Storm damage to a roof is harm that a single weather event caused, all at once. In greater Houston that usually means wind, hail, falling limbs and rain pushed sideways into an opening the wind made.
That is different from a roof slowly wearing out. Shingles that curl after twenty Houston summers, a pipe collar that cracked in the sun, or a valley that rotted under years of pine needles are aging, and home policies generally treat them as wear and tear. The line between the two matters because it decides who pays, and it is the first thing an adjuster and a roofer will try to settle.
This guide covers how to tell storm damage from wear, the safe things to do in the first hour, the first day and the first week, and the contract traps that turn up on Houston doorsteps after every big storm.
The four kinds of storm damage Houston roofs get
Wind
Wind gets under the edge of a shingle and pulls. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety says the strength of the adhesive seal between shingles is the biggest factor in how they hold up in high wind. Once a seal lets go, the shingle may fold back, crease along the nail line or tear away. Some creased shingles settle flat again and are hard to see from the street. On May 16, 2024, the Houston and Galveston office of the National Weather Service recorded a derecho that pushed winds above 100 mph through the metro. See wind damage roof repair.
Hail
Hail can crack shingles, knock the protective granules loose and leave soft, bruised spots where the mat underneath is damaged. Metal shows it more plainly: dents in gutters, vent caps, downspouts and the fins of an outdoor air conditioning unit are often the first clue that the roof was hit too. Hail damage is easy to miss from the ground, which is why a roofer's close look matters.
Falling trees and limbs
Live oaks, pines and pecans cover much of the Houston area. A heavy limb can crack shingles, break rafters or punch through the deck. When Hurricane Beryl came ashore near Matagorda on July 8, 2024, more than two million CenterPoint Energy customers lost power, according to Community Impact. Treat any limb tangled in wires as live.
Wind-driven rain
Rain that comes in through an opening the storm created, such as a torn-off shingle, a broken vent or a hole from a limb, is usually treated as part of the storm damage. Water that rises from the ground is different: standard homeowners policies leave out flooding, according to FEMA and the Texas Department of Insurance, and that takes a separate flood policy.
Storm damage or wear and tear?
Only a close look settles it, but these are the signs adjusters and roofers usually weigh. Ask the roofer you are connected with to show you, with photos, which of these it found.
| What you or the roofer see | Points toward | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shingles missing or folded back on the side the wind came from | Storm damage | Wind leaves a direction; aging affects every slope about the same. |
| Fresh, round hits with granules knocked off, plus dented gutters or vents | Storm damage (hail) | Hail marks are random and sudden, and soft metal records them. |
| A limb on the roof, broken deck or cracked rafter | Storm damage | The cause is plain and dated to the storm. |
| Curling, cupping or cracked shingles across the whole roof | Wear and tear | Years of heat and sun do this gradually and evenly. |
| Bare patches where granules wore away over time, granules piled in gutters for years | Usually wear | Normal aging, though hail can add to it, so ask the roofer to tell the two apart. |
| A ceiling stain that has been growing for months | Usually an older leak | Ask whether the storm made it worse; an insurer may look at how long it has been there. |
Wear and an old leak can sit alongside real storm damage on the same roof. Tell the insurer what you know honestly, and let the adjuster and the roofer sort the two.
After the storm: the first hour, the first day, the first week
Work through these in order. Every step can be done from the ground or from inside the house. All of them keep you on the ground and away from wiring.
The first hour: people first
- Check everyone is safe. If a tree or limb came through the roof, get everyone out of that part of the house.
- Stay clear of downed lines. Treat every fallen wire as live, keep children and pets away, and report it to CenterPoint Energy, or call 911 if anyone is in danger.
- Stay off the roof and off the ladder. A wet, debris-covered roof is slick and may be weaker than it looks.
- Catch the water. Put buckets, pots or towels under drips, move furniture, electronics and papers out of the way, and keep people out of any room where the ceiling sags or bulges.
Stay off the roof. Wet, storm-damaged roofs are slick and the decking may be weak, so leave the ladder in the garage. Keep well away from downed power lines and report them to CenterPoint Energy or 911. Indoors, move belongings away from the leak, put a bucket or towels under the drip and keep people out of any room where the ceiling sags. Photograph the damage from the ground and inside the house, then call your insurer and a roofer.
The first day: record it and report it
- Photograph everything before it is moved. The roof from the street and the yard, shingles and limbs on the ground, dented gutters and vents, and every stain and wet spot inside. Wide shots first, then close ones, with the date.
- Call your insurer. Report the damage, write down the claim number and ask what the deductible is for wind and hail, whether it is a percentage of the home's insured value, and what records the insurer wants.
- Call a roofer. If water is coming in, ask for an emergency tarp or temporary repair done by the roofer. The Texas Department of Insurance advises making temporary repairs to prevent more damage, keeping the receipts, and not making permanent repairs until the adjuster has seen the damage.
- Start a folder. Photos, the claim number, names of everyone you talk to and every receipt. The free hail and storm claim checklist keeps it in order.
The first week: the adjuster, the roofer and the paperwork
- Be ready for the adjuster. Under the Texas Insurance Code's prompt payment rules, the insurer usually has 15 days to confirm it received your claim, then 15 business days after receiving the information it requested to approve or deny it, and it can take up to 45 more days if it gives a reason. When the Texas Department of Insurance declares a weather-related catastrophe for your county, as it did for Hurricane Beryl, those deadlines can stretch by another 15 days.
- Ask the roofer to be there. A roofer may share its estimate and photos and discuss them with the adjuster. Decisions about your settlement stay with you.
- Compare written estimates. Get the scope in writing, and read the guide to checking a roofer before you sign.
- Coastal homes: check the windstorm rules. In the Texas Department of Insurance catastrophe area, roof work needs a windstorm inspection while it is under way.
Coastal windstorm rules. In the Texas Department of Insurance's designated catastrophe area (Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston and the other first-tier coastal counties, plus, in Harris County, Morgan's Point and the parts of La Porte, Pasadena, Seabrook and Shoreacres inside city limits and east of State Highway 146), most roof work must meet the windstorm building code and be inspected while it is under way (TDI exempts repairs to less than 100 square feet of roof covering that do not touch the decking). When it passes, TDI issues a certificate of compliance (form WPI-8), which the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association uses to decide whether it can insure the home. Ask the roofer, in writing, who schedules the inspection and when you will get the WPI-8.
What not to do after storm damage
Leave the ladder and the tarp to a roofer
Falls from ladders and roofs are a real risk in the days after a storm, when roofs are wet and people are tired and rushed. A tarp has to be fastened and sealed properly to work. Ask the roofer to do it and keep the receipt.
Do not poke holes or touch wiring
Leave sagging ceilings and wet light fixtures alone and keep the room empty. If water is near outlets, fixtures or the electrical panel, stay out of the room and call your electric utility or an electrician; do not go near the panel yourself.
Do not throw away evidence
Keep a few torn shingles and photograph debris before it is hauled off. Once a roof is replaced, the old one cannot be shown to an adjuster.
Do not sign on the spot
A contract signed at the door in the first hours, before you have talked to your insurer, causes many of the disputes that follow Houston storms. Take a day to read it.
Storm chasers and contract traps
The Texas Attorney General has warned Texans about scammers in the aftermath of Houston storms. Most of the trouble comes from a few kinds of paper signed in a hurry.
The "authorization" form
A one-page form that says you will use the roofer if your claim is approved, or that lets it "deal with" your insurer, can bind you before you have compared anyone. The Texas Department of Insurance says a roofer may not act as your public adjuster, negotiate your claim or say it represents you. Read every word, and do not sign anything that hands over the claim.
Your insurance money
Be wary of any paper that assigns your insurance proceeds to the contractor or tells the insurer to pay it directly. The Texas Attorney General warns against signing your insurance check over to a contractor. Pay the roofer directly, in stages, as the work is done.
The deductible offer
"We'll cover your deductible" is illegal in Texas. A contractor offering to waive, rebate or absorb it is breaking Texas law, according to TDI, and a contract of $1,000 or more paid with insurance money must say you are responsible for it.
Two Texas laws help. The Attorney General says many purchases made at your door can be cancelled within three business days, and the seller must tell you so in writing. And after a declared disaster, state rules on disaster repair contracts (Business and Commerce Code Chapter 58, explained by TDI) usually keep a roofer that has not been based in your county or an adjoining one for the past twelve months from collecting money before the work begins. Complaints go to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, 800-621-0508.
When the roofer arrives
A careful roofer looks at every slope, the edges, the ridge, the flashing, the vents and the gutters, and goes into the attic to look for wet decking and daylight. Ask for photos of each problem it finds, marked by slope, and a written estimate that separates storm damage from any older wear it noticed. That separation helps you and the adjuster.
If water is coming in, ask first about a temporary fix: a properly fastened tarp or a temporary patch, priced separately from the permanent repair, with a receipt for your claim. Then ask what the permanent repair or replacement would include. The emergency roof repair page describes what a proper tarp looks like.
Houston Expert Roofers does none of this work. The line is free, it picks up day or night, and it transfers you to an independent, locally owned roofing company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly.
Storm damage on the roof, or water coming in? Call and describe what you see from the ground. You are put through to an independent, locally owned roofing company that can look at it in person and give you its own written estimate.
How a storm call works
- Call the numberAn automated assistant answers (832) 662-4107 at any hour and asks which service you need, since the line also takes heating, cooling, pressure washing and water damage calls.
- Describe the roofA leak, missing shingles, hail, a limb on the roof or an old roof you want looked at, plus your part of greater Houston and how urgent it is.
- Get put throughYour call is transferred to an independent, locally owned roofing company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with the roofer directlyIt inspects, quotes and does the work, and you pay it (or your insurer does, as you arrange). If it misses the call, it gets your name, number, city and need to call you back.
The deductible is yours to pay. The Texas Department of Insurance says it is illegal for a contractor to offer to waive, rebate or absorb your deductible, and a contract of $1,000 or more paid with insurance money must include a notice saying so. A roofer also may not act as your public adjuster on a property it works on. Treat any offer to "cover the deductible" as a reason to call someone else.
Texas has no state roofing license. No state agency licenses roofing contractors in Texas, and a 2025 bill to create one (HB 3344) did not reach a vote of the full House before the session ended. So check what you can: a certificate of liability insurance sent to you, a written contract with the full scope, a permit where your city requires one, local addresses you can drive past, and the shingle maker's warranty registration. Some cities also ask roofers to register. The line does not check any of this for you. How to check a roofer before you hire.
About this line: Houston Expert Roofers is a free phone line, not a roofing contractor. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local roofing company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. The line never charges you. Read how the line works.
Related pages
- Storm Damage Roof Repair
- Hail Damage Roof Repair
- Wind Damage Roof Repair
- Emergency Roof Repair and Tarping
- Roof Leak Repair
- Roof Insurance Claims in Texas