Storm

Storm Damage Roof Checklist for Durham Homes

By Durham NC Roofing · September 5, 2026 · 7 min read

Durham's storm season runs from the first May thunderstorm to the last tropical remnant in October, and the peak is right now. September is when a system comes up from the Gulf or in off the coast, drops four to six inches of rain over two days, and then the wind arrives on ground that can't hold a pine anymore. Fran did it in 1996. Florence and Michael did it in 2018. Most years something smaller does it in one neighborhood and not the next.

This is the checklist we'd hand a neighbor the morning after. Work it from the ground first; the roof can wait until it's dry.

Before you go outside

• If water is coming through a ceiling light or fan, turn off that breaker.
• Put a bucket under any active drip and poke a small hole in the center of a bulging ceiling to let the water out before the drywall comes down in one piece.
• Note the time. Insurers want to know which storm.

From the yard

Walk the whole perimeter of the house with your phone. Photograph everything, time-stamped, before you touch or move anything.

1. Shingles or pieces of shingle on the ground. Note which side of the house they're on. That tells you which slope to look at.
2. Granules piled at the downspout outlets — a heavy wash of granules after one storm means the shingles took a beating, even if none came off.
3. Limbs on the roof, or limbs that were on the roof. Pine limbs skid down a slope and leave a trail of broken shingles you can't see from the ground. Photograph where the limb landed and where it ended up.
4. The trees themselves. Look up at every loblolly pine and willow oak within falling distance. A pine leaning that wasn't leaning last week, or a root plate lifting out of the wet clay, is a second storm waiting for the next gust. Call a tree service before it decides.
5. Gutters pulled loose or hanging — often the first thing a limb hits.
6. Flashing visibly bent at the chimney or where a porch roof meets the wall.
7. Siding and windows on the windward side. Wind that damaged the siding damaged the roof above it.

What wind damage actually looks like here

Hail is the storm damage people read about, and Durham gets a real hail roof maybe once every few springs — soft-metal dents on the vents and gutters, bruises on the west slope. What Durham storms usually leave is wind damage:

• Creased shingles. The gust lifted the shingle, folded it back, and it lay back down. The crease broke the fiberglass mat. From the ground the slope looks fine. Up close there's a horizontal line across the shingle an inch or two above the bottom edge. Every creased shingle leaks eventually, so photograph any you can see from a window or the ground.
• Lifted tabs with the seal strip broken. The shingle isn't creased but it's no longer glued to the one below. It'll go in the next storm.
• Missing shingles and, under them, torn underlayment. Urgent — that's bare deck.
• Ridge cap shingles gone. The ridge takes the most wind and the cap shingles are the first to go on an older roof.

From the attic

Once the rain stops, go up with a flashlight. Look for wet streaks on the underside of the deck, drips off nail tips, and daylight. Wind-driven rain from a remnant can get under shingles at every weak flashing without any shingle damage at all, and the attic is where you find out. Our post on finding a roof leak from inside has the full method.

If a tree is on the house

Call in this order: a tree service, a roofer, your insurer. Nothing about the roof can be assessed until the trunk is off, and the tree crew needs to know the decking under it is probably broken so nobody steps through. Local roofers commonly work alongside tree crews and tarp once the weight comes off. Don't let anyone cut the tree off the roof by standing on the roof.

Tarping

A tarp on exposed decking is a $300–$700 emergency repair, and the cost is often covered as mitigation — check your policy. Keep the receipt. If you tarp it yourself, screw battens through the tarp into the rafters, don't nail through the shingles below the damage, and remember that a wet two-story roof after a storm is not a place to learn.

Calling insurance

Read your declarations page first. Many North Carolina policies carry a separate wind and hail deductible set as a percentage of dwelling coverage, and yours is listed there. As an illustration only, 1–2% on a $400,000 house would be $4,000–$8,000. If the damage is a few lifted shingles, a $500 repair against that deductible isn't a claim. If a slope is creased or a tree came through, it may be. Get a repair price from a local roofer first so you can compare; the storm damage page covers the rest. Photograph the damage yourself and call your agent or insurer. A roofer can give you a written repair estimate and photos, but in North Carolina only a public adjuster licensed by the NC Department of Insurance can negotiate a claim for you.

Two things to refuse in the first week: any contractor who knocks on the door offering a "free inspection" and asks you to sign something, and any offer to "handle your deductible." Never accept an offer to waive, cover or absorb your deductible — insurers treat it as fraud and it can put your claim at risk. Ask your agent if anyone offers; the NC Department of Insurance also has a consumer line.

The 48-hour list

• Breakers off where water is coming through fixtures
• Photos from the yard, time-stamped
• Trees checked, leaning ones called in
• Attic checked with a flashlight
• Tarp on any bare deck
• Declarations page read, deductible known
• Repair estimate from a local roofer before the claim call
• Nothing signed on the doorstep

If you've worked the list and there's damage, request a free estimate from a local roofer. If you've worked the list and there isn't, you're done, and you're ahead of most of the street.

Keep a storm folder

The week after a storm moves fast, and the details are easy to lose. Keep one folder, paper or on your phone, with the date and name of the storm, your photos from the yard, the roof and the attic, the tree crew's invoice, the tarp receipt, your policy's declarations page, and every written estimate. Write down who you spoke to at the insurer and when. If the claim goes smoothly you'll barely need it. If it doesn't, it saves hours.

Common questions

How soon after a storm should I check the roof?

From the ground, as soon as the storm has passed and it's safe outside. The attic, once the rain stops. Leave the roof itself for a dry day and for someone with the right gear, because a wet slope after a storm is slippery and may be damaged.

What if I can't see any damage but I'm not sure?

Creased shingles and broken seal strips are hard to spot from the ground. If a slope faced the wind, limbs came down nearby or granules washed out of the downspouts, it's worth having a roofer look before the next storm finds the weak spot.

Should I wait for the insurer before getting estimates?

No. Getting a written repair estimate early helps you compare the repair with your deductible and decide whether a claim makes sense. It also gets you on a roofer's schedule while the calendar is filling up.

Should I clean up the debris myself?

Small limbs and loose shingles, yes, once you've photographed them where they landed. Leave anything on the roof, anything under tension and any large trunk to a tree service.