Why does straight-line wind leave so much water behind?
Straight-line wind drives rain sideways and under edges that are normally shedding it. Once an edge lifts, rain can run into the structure for hours, and the water stays in the wall or the attic long after the storm.
A roof that sheds water on a calm day can take it in on a windy one. Wind forces rain under shingles, behind flashing and into the gap at the eaves. The water runs along the underlayment and the decking until it finds a low point, which may be a ceiling light or a wall plate several feet from the opening.
This is why the stain inside a house can look like it came from a different direction than the storm. The crew works backwards from the wet material to the opening, and it checks each place the water could have run.
How do you tell a wind opening from a leak that was already there?
A new storm opening usually shows fresh staining, lifted or missing material and clean edges on the broken parts. Old leaks show darker tide lines, rot and repairs that were made before. The crew notes both so the claim and the repair start from an accurate record.
Fresh damage has bright or wet edges. Old damage shows staining that has dried and moved, soft wood, and paint or caulk that failed long ago. A technician looks for both and records which parts are new.
This matters for the repair and for any insurance paperwork you may file. A dated record of what the storm did is more useful than a list of what the house looked like before, so the crew takes photographs and notes at the start of the job.
What moves the cost of a wind storm water job?
The number of openings, how far the water has travelled, how much material is wet and how many storms it has sat through decide the job. The price is explained and approved before any work starts.
Several small openings across the roof and walls are often a bigger job than one large one, because each one has to be found and covered. Water that has run down a wall into a second floor or a crawl space adds work at each level.
The access to the roof, the age of the materials and how much of the house must be opened to dry it all matter as well. The crew explains these on the first visit and gives you the scope in writing before the work changes.
Does a wind storm call need the crew at the building the same night?
Crews are dispatched 24/7 as fast as one is available. The phone line is answered at any hour, and the crew will say what it can do and when it can get there, which depends on how many calls are waiting after the storm.
Storms often produce many calls in the same few hours. The crew cannot promise an arrival time over the phone, because an honest one depends on the calls already waiting. What you can do is cover what you can safely reach, move valuables away from the wet area and describe the damage clearly so the call can be prioritised.
Keep the power off in any room that is wet, and leave the panel alone if it is in water. The technician will advise when they arrive.
What can a homeowner check after the wind has died down?
Look at the roof from the ground with binoculars, check the soffits and gutters, and look for new stains on ceilings and walls. Write down what you see with dates and photographs before anything is moved or repaired.
Walk the outside of the house, looking for lifted shingles, bent flashing, loose soffit and fascia and cracked windows. Note the wind direction if you remember it, because the damage usually sits on the side the wind hit.
Inside, check the ceilings, the top of each exterior wall and the floor below any window. Do not climb onto the roof to look, and do not pull down wet drywall to see what is behind it. The crew can do that with the right tools and a moisture meter.
