Storm Damage Roof Repair: What to Do BEFORE Calling Insurance

You woke up to wind, water in the ceiling, or a shingle in the driveway. Your first instinct is to call your insurance company. Do not call yet. The biggest financial mistakes Pacific Northwest homeowners make after a storm happen in the first 72 hours, and almost all of them come from calling the wrong people in the wrong order. The damage is real and your claim is legitimate, but how you sequence the next five calls decides whether your insurer settles the full scope or settles a narrow one. After 17 years of running storm-damage projects in Beaverton, Portland, Hillsboro, and across Washington County, here is the sequence we walk every customer through.

The 72-hour mindset

Adjusters are not your enemy. They are also not your advocate. They are paid to settle claims accurately for the damage that can be documented and properly attributed to the covered event. The single thing they cannot do is invent documentation that does not exist. Your job in the first 72 hours is to make sure the documentation exists in your favor — before the wind dries the water stain, before another rain blows shingles off the lawn, before "we will get to that later" becomes "we cannot tell whether that was from this storm."

Step 1: Stop the active loss

Safety first. If water is actively entering the home, contain it. Move furniture, lay towels, position buckets. If a tree is on the roof and the structure looks unstable, leave the house and call 911. Never climb a wet, damaged roof yourself — the leading cause of post-storm injuries is amateur tarping attempts. A licensed roofing contractor can install an emergency tarp the same day in most Pacific Northwest service areas. We respond to storm calls in our coverage area inside 30 to 60 minutes for severe damage.

Step 2: Document everything before anyone touches anything

Phone camera. Date and time stamps on. Photograph from the ground first — front, sides, back of the house. Get wide shots that establish context. Then walk the perimeter and photograph everything on the ground: shingles, branches, gutters, fascia debris. Then move inside — water stains on ceilings, walls, around windows. Get close-ups and pull-back context shots of each.

Do not climb the roof yourself unless you are trained and equipped. A contractor with fall protection can walk it later. The ground-and-attic documentation you do in the first hour is more valuable than the roof-deck photo a contractor takes on day three anyway.

Step 3: Write down what you remember about the event

Time the wind started, time it peaked, direction it came from, whether you heard impacts, whether power went out. Save the weather report screenshot for that 24-hour window from a credible source like the National Weather Service Portland office. Insurance adjusters use NWS data to confirm wind speed at the loss location; matching your documentation to the public record removes a major friction point in the claim.

Step 4: Call a licensed local contractor before your carrier

This is the step the storm-chasing companies who knocked on your door 30 minutes after the storm do not want you to take. A reputable, locally-based, licensed contractor with a verifiable CCB number and real references should be the first person on your roof after the event. They will:

• Walk the roof and document every uplifted shingle, broken seal, damaged flashing, dented vent.
• Inspect the attic for water entry, daylight, and insulation damage.
• Photograph at the angles and zoom levels insurance adjusters actually look at.
• Write a line-item scope of work that quantifies the loss.
• Tell you honestly whether you have a claim worth filing or a small repair that is below your deductible.

When you call your insurer with a documented scope already in hand, the conversation changes. You are not asking "what should I do?" You are saying "this is the damage, here is what it will cost to make right, please assign an adjuster."

The storm chaser problem

After every major Pacific Northwest windstorm, out-of-state companies appear in Beaverton and Portland neighborhoods knocking on doors. Some are reputable. Many are not. The pattern: they offer to "handle your insurance," they ask you to sign an "assignment of benefits" or a "contingency agreement," and they disappear once the work is done — leaving you to chase warranty issues to a phone number that no longer answers. The Oregon Construction Contractors Board tracks complaints and license status at oregon.gov/CCB. Before signing anything, look up the contractor's CCB number, confirm it is active, and confirm the bond and insurance are current.

Step 5: Now call your insurance company

You have a documented scope, your own photos, the weather screenshot, and a contractor who is ready to perform the work for that scope. Open the claim. Be factual: date, time, observed damage, contractor's name and license. Provide the documentation. The adjuster will schedule a site visit; we are on most adjuster visits when the homeowner asks us to be there.

From here it becomes a fairly standard back-and-forth. Adjusters write their own scope based on what they see. If theirs aligns with ours, we proceed to repair. If theirs is narrower than ours, we provide additional documentation. If the loss has hidden damage that does not show until tear-off, we file a supplemental claim mid-project — which is normal and routine.

The phone-call order, condensed

1. 911 if the structure is unsafe.
2. Local licensed contractor for emergency tarp and same-day inspection.
3. Document, document, document.
4. Get the contractor's written scope.
5. Now open the insurance claim with the scope already in hand.

The mistakes that cost homeowners money

• Calling the carrier first without documentation.
• Signing an "assignment of benefits" form to a door-knocker before talking to a local contractor.
• Letting the carrier's preferred-vendor program pick the contractor by default.
• Throwing away storm debris before it is photographed.
• Postponing the attic inspection — leaks worsen in the second rain.
• Not asking for a supplemental claim when tear-off reveals additional damage.

What our storm-response process looks like

We dispatch within 30-60 minutes for severe damage in our coverage area, tarp same-day if needed, document at the angles that survive adjuster review, write a line-item scope inside 48 hours, attend adjuster visits when invited, and proceed to repair as soon as the claim settles. We do not work on contingency. We do not file the claim for you. We do not take an assignment of benefits. We are a licensed Oregon general contractor (CCB #204939), a CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster, and veteran-owned.

Related Green O resources

• Storm restoration services — full storm response menu.
• How to spot storm damage before your insurer does — the 48-hour homeowner checklist with photo angles.
• Why Beaverton roofs fail at 15 years — pre-storm vulnerabilities.
• Case study: Storm-Ready Roof — full PNW replacement walkthrough.
• Beaverton service area — neighborhoods and response time.
• Storm-line inquiry — Mon-Sat 8 AM to 7 PM.