North Texas hail season peaks from April into June, and a storm that lasts ten minutes can bruise every south- and west-facing slope in a neighborhood. Knowing what to do after a hail storm — in order — protects your home, your claim, and your wallet, because the first 48 hours set up everything that follows.
Most of the mistakes we see are not dramatic. Homeowners climb a wet roof, take three blurry photos, sign with the first crew that knocks, or wait so long the storm date becomes hard to establish.
Step 1: Safety Before Anything Else
Stay inside until the whole system has passed, not just the hail core. Straight-line winds and a second cell often follow the first, and downed limbs may be sitting on power lines.
When you do go out, stay off the roof. Hail leaves shingles brittle and slick with loose granules, and wet asphalt is genuinely dangerous. Foot traffic also damages compromised shingles further, muddying what an adjuster sees later.
Step 2: Check Everything at Ground Level
You can learn a great deal without leaving the yard. Walk the perimeter and look for:
- Gutters and downspouts. Dents on the top edges and back walls of gutters, and dimples on downspouts, are hail's calling card.
- Piles of granules. Black sandy grit at the downspout outlets or in flower beds means granules were blasted off the shingle surface.
- Window screens and AC condenser fins. Torn screens and flattened fins record stone size and storm direction.
- Soft metals and painted surfaces. Vent caps, roof jacks, mailboxes, garage doors, fence caps, and gutter aprons all dent.
- Shingle debris in the yard. Tabs, granule-stripped pieces, or ridge cap fragments mean wind rode in with the hail.
Then check inside: ceilings and light fixtures for staining, and the attic for daylight through the decking, wet insulation, or drips along rafters.
Step 3: Document With Timestamps
Photograph everything you found, and do it now. Use your phone so each image carries its own date. Take wide shots that identify the house, then close-ups with something for scale — a coin, a pen, a tape measure. If hailstones are still on the ground, photograph them next to a ruler before they melt.
Note the date and rough time of the storm, keep any weather alerts you received, and hang on to receipts for tarps, plywood, or anything else you buy to protect the house. Your own photos are the cheapest evidence you will ever collect.
Step 4: Stop Active Water Intrusion
If water is coming in, act the same day. Move furniture, put buckets down, pull wet insulation away from drywall, and get the roof covered.
Most policies expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and an untarped hole that soaks a ceiling for a week can complicate the interior portion of a claim. Our guide to emergency roof tarping explains how a proper cover is anchored so it survives the next round of wind. Cannon Roofing answers storm calls 24/7 for exactly this reason.
Step 5: Get a Professional Inspection Before You File
This is the step homeowners most often skip, and it matters most. Hail damage is hard to read from the ground — a bruise is a soft spot where the fiberglass mat fractured under crushed granules, nearly invisible until someone kneels on the slope and chalks it.
A documented roof inspection tells you whether you have functional damage worth a claim, cosmetic marking that will not qualify, or age-related wear that hail simply made obvious. It also produces a slope-by-slope record: chalked test squares, photographs, granule loss, dented penetrations, damaged valley metal and drip edge, and the collateral evidence on soft metals. Our article on storm damage roof inspections covers what a thorough one includes.
Filing first and finding out later is how claims get denied on roofs that were never properly assessed. Policies also commonly impose filing windows after a loss — check yours, and don't let months slide by while you decide.
Step 6: Choose a Local Roofer, Not the First Truck
Storm-hit streets fill with out-of-town crews within a day. Ask for a physical local address, insurance certificates from the carrier, and a written scope naming shingle line, underlayment, drip edge, valley metal, pipe boots, and ventilation. Never sign an authorization in your driveway, and walk away from anyone offering to cover your deductible.
Step 7: Expect a Realistic Timeline
After a widespread hail event, adjusters are booked and material supply tightens. A claim commonly moves from filing to adjuster visit to approved scope over a few weeks, with crews scheduled behind that, and the depreciation portion released only after the work is complete and documented.
Temporary protection happens immediately; permanent replacement waits for approval. Our insurance claim help keeps the paperwork moving while you wait.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do first after a hail storm hits my roof? Stay inside until the storm system has fully passed, then check from the ground. Look at gutters, downspouts, window screens, AC fins, and other soft metals for dents, and check ceilings and the attic for active water before anyone climbs a ladder.
Should I file a claim before or after a roof inspection? Get a professional inspection first so you know whether the damage is real and documentable. Filing on a hunch can lead to a denial on a roof that was never properly assessed. Policies commonly impose filing windows, so do not wait long — check yours.
How soon should hail damage be tarped? Any active leak or exposed decking should be covered the same day. Emergency tarping stops interior damage from spreading while the claim and permanent repair are arranged, and most policies expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent further loss.
Hail just hit your neighborhood? Call Cannon Roofing at (940) 627-1045 or request a free quote. We inspect, document, and tarp storm-damaged roofs 24/7 across Decatur and Wise County.