What to Do in the First 48 Hours After a Gulf Coast Hailstorm

Hail moves through Fort Bend County fast and leaves before most people have had a chance to look at their roof. The storm itself is usually over in minutes. What you do in the two days after is what actually shapes how your insurance claim goes.

Stay off the roof

It sounds obvious, but every storm season somebody climbs a ladder to check their own roof and gets hurt doing it. A wet or damaged roof deck is not a stable surface, and hail damage is often more visible from photographs taken at an angle than from standing directly on top of it anyway. Leave the roof walk to someone who does it for a living.

Look at what you can see from the ground and from inside

• Gutters and downspouts for granules, dents, or debris that wasn't there before
• Window screens, vents, and any metal fixtures on the exterior for hail dents, which often show damage more obviously than shingles do
• Ceilings and upper walls inside the house for any new discoloration or damp patches
• The yard for shingle pieces, granules, or roofing debris that may have come off during the storm

Take photos before anything gets cleaned up

Photograph anything you notice, from the ground, before you sweep up debris or move anything. This isn't about replacing a professional inspection. It's about having your own timestamped record of what the property looked like right after the storm, in case there's ever a question later about when damage happened.

Cover active leaks, don't try to fix the roof yourself

If water is actively coming through, put a bucket down and move anything that can be water damaged. A temporary tarp over an active leak is reasonable if it can be done safely from the ground or an attic access point. Climbing onto storm-damaged shingles to patch them yourself usually causes more damage than it prevents.

Be careful who you let inspect the roof

After any significant hailstorm, crews show up in the area who weren't around the week before and won't be around the week after. Get a real inspection from someone who is going to be answering the phone months from now if a repair needs attention, not just the day the paperwork gets signed.

Get an inspection and start the claim conversation

Once the immediate safety issues are handled, get a roofer on the property to document the damage properly before you talk to your insurance company, or alongside that first call. We work directly with the insurance company on storm and hail claims, including what to do if the first response comes back as a denial, and our roof claims service covers that whole process from the first inspection onward.

We're available 24 hours after a storm, by call, text, or email, at (832) 220-5057, and we cover Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugar Land, Katy, Pearland, Missouri City, and the rest of Fort Bend County.