A severe storm just passed through your Oklahoma neighborhood. Maybe you heard hail on your windows. Maybe you can see a tree limb on your roof. Maybe your neighbor is already on the phone with a roofing contractor. What should you do in the first 24–72 hours after potential storm damage to your roof?
The steps you take (and the mistakes you avoid) in the days immediately following a storm have a direct impact on how your insurance claim is handled and how much you pay out of pocket. Here’s exactly what to do.
Step 1: Stay Safe — Don’t Get on Your Roof
The instinct to check your own roof immediately after a storm is understandable but dangerous. Wet or damaged roofing surfaces are slip hazards, hail-impacted shingles may be structurally compromised, and storm debris can create unstable footing. Leave the physical roof inspection to a licensed professional with proper safety equipment.
What you can safely do from the ground: photograph any visible damage, note missing shingles or displaced sections, check gutters for granule accumulation, and look for debris impact marks on siding, windowsills, and HVAC equipment (these indicate stone sizes and can corroborate hail damage on the roof).
Step 2: Protect Against Further Damage If Needed
If storm damage has left your roof actively exposed — missing large shingle sections, visible decking, or penetrating debris — take immediate steps to prevent water intrusion before rain returns. Options:
- Call for emergency tarping: A licensed roofing contractor can tarp exposed areas the same day in most circumstances. Emergency tarping costs are covered by your insurance as part of your storm damage claim.
- Temporary interior protection: If you have interior water intrusion occurring, place buckets, move valuables, and use plastic sheeting to protect furniture while waiting for professional help.
Important: Oklahoma homeowner policies typically require you to take “reasonable steps” to prevent further damage after a covered loss. Failure to address active roof exposure can give your insurer grounds to reduce your claim for “failure to mitigate.” Don’t wait.
Step 3: Document Everything — Before Anyone Touches the Roof
Before any contractor performs work on your roof — including emergency tarping — photograph your roof from every accessible angle on the ground. Photograph your gutters. Photograph any hail dents on vehicles, AC units, or other metal surfaces (these establish stone size for your claim). Note the storm date, approximate time, and any weather service reports for your area.
This pre-work documentation is evidence. Once repairs begin, the pre-repair condition of your roof becomes harder to establish definitively.
Step 4: Call a Licensed Oklahoma Roofing Contractor — Not Your Insurance Company First
Most Oklahoma homeowners instinctively call their insurance company first. We recommend calling a licensed local roofing contractor first. Here’s why: when you file your claim before you have an independent damage assessment, you’re relying entirely on the adjuster’s inspection — which may be incomplete. If you have your own professional documentation before the adjuster arrives, you can hold their estimate accountable.
Calling a contractor first doesn’t delay your claim — it improves it. You still file with your insurer, but you do it with documentation that supports a full and fair settlement.
Step 5: File Your Claim Promptly
Most Oklahoma homeowner policies require “prompt” damage reporting — language that courts have typically interpreted as 30–90 days. Some policies have specific windows written explicitly. After you have your damage documentation from your roofing contractor, file your claim immediately. Don’t wait to see if the roof leaks first. Hail damage causes roofs to fail months or years after the storm event — by the time you see water stains on your ceiling, your insurance window may be closed.
Step 6: Request Your Contractor Be Present During the Adjuster Inspection
When your insurer schedules the adjuster inspection, ask your roofing contractor to attend. Having a qualified roofing professional on the roof alongside the adjuster is the single most impactful thing you can do for your claim outcome. Your contractor can point out items at risk of being missed, provide their own documentation for comparison, and ensure the scope reflects actual storm damage rather than a rushed assessment.
Step 7: Review the Insurance Estimate Before Signing Anything
When your insurer issues their damage estimate (scope of loss), review it with your roofing contractor before accepting or signing anything. Common missed items: code-required drip edge, ice and water shield, additional layer tear-off, steep pitch surcharges, pipe boot replacements, and gutter damage. Your contractor can file supplements for legitimately missed items — but this is much easier before you’ve accepted the initial offer than after.
What to Avoid After Storm Damage
- Don’t sign with the first door-knocker. Storm chasers are aggressive after Oklahoma events. Take 24–48 hours to verify any contractor’s licensing, local presence, and references before signing anything.
- Don’t let anyone “waive your deductible.” This is illegal in Oklahoma and constitutes insurance fraud.
- Don’t delay beyond 90 days from the storm event to file, even if you’re still evaluating contractors.
- Don’t sign an Assignment of Benefits (AOB) agreement that transfers your insurance claim rights to a contractor. Oklahoma law restricts these agreements and they can complicate your claim significantly.
Call Oklahoma Roofing Experts After Any Storm Event
We provide free post-storm inspections throughout Oklahoma — typically within 24–72 hours of your call during storm season. We document damage, help you file your claim correctly, attend your adjuster inspection, and manage your project from start to finish. Call (580) 919-1386 for immediate assistance.