Storm and Wind Damage on Your Roof in Austin: What to Look For and What to Do First
After a hail or wind storm in Austin, stay off the roof, take photos from the ground and inside, and only make temporary fixes like a tarp until your insurance company has been called. Hail usually leaves scattered bruises and dents across every slope. Wind usually lifts, creases, or tears shingles along edges and ridges on the side that faced the storm.
Vantage Roofing offers free storm damage inspections in Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, and nearby towns. We'll show you photos and tell you honestly whether it needs a repair, a replacement, or nothing at all.
What should you do in the first day or two after a storm?
Once the weather clears:
Stay safe. Keep away from downed power lines and hanging limbs. Don't climb a wet or damaged roof.
Walk the outside. From the ground, look for shingles in the yard, bare spots on slopes, dented gutters and downspouts, and broken skylights or vent caps.
Check inside. Look at ceilings and upper walls for new stains, and peek into the attic from the hatch if it is safe.
Take photos and video. Shoot the roof from each side of the house, the gutters, any dents, and anything inside. Write down the date and time of the storm.
Stop new water. Temporary fixes like a tarp or a bucket are fine. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) says it is generally OK to make temporary repairs, but not permanent ones until you have talked to your insurer. Photograph the damage before any work.
Call your insurer if you see damage. TDI advises reporting property damage as soon as possible.
If water is coming in, that is the first call to make. Emergency tarping buys time. It is not the repair.
How can you tell hail damage from wind damage?
They look different, and the difference matters when damage is documented.
Hail damage on shingles:
Round or oval dark spots where granules were knocked off, scattered with no straight-line pattern.
Soft spots. A fresh hail bruise gives slightly under a thumb because the mat underneath is cracked.
Dents on soft metal: gutters, downspouts, roof vents, and AC unit fins.
Heavy granules washing out of the downspouts right after the storm.
Wind damage on shingles:
Missing shingles or tabs, often in rows.
Creases, a faint line across a shingle where it folded back in the wind.
Tabs that lift freely by hand because the seal strip let go.
Damage bunched at ridges, hips, rakes, eaves, and corners, on the side the storm came from.
Not every mark is storm damage. Granule loss spread evenly across an older roof is usually wear from sun and age. Blisters, old nail pops, and heat-cracked pipe boots are common finds, and they are not hail hits.
Does small hail damage a roof?
Often, no. Pea-size hail rarely hurts a sound shingle roof. Impact testing summarized by the home-inspection reference InspectAPedia found aged fiberglass shingles started breaking at about 1.25-inch ice stones, and thicker laminated shingles at about 1.5 inches. Older and worn roofs give up sooner.
Metal and tile roofs behave differently. Hail can dent metal panels and trim without making them leak. Concrete and clay tile can crack or chip, and a broken tile lets water reach the underlayment. Wind on a tile roof tends to loosen ridge and edge pieces first.
What storms has the Austin area seen?
Central Texas gets real hail. NOAA's Storm Events Database lists four-inch hail in Round Rock on September 24, 2023, from a storm that tracked from Georgetown into Austin. The same storm dropped hen-egg-size hail in the Mueller area of Austin. NOAA also lists hail up to three inches around Leander and Liberty Hill on May 16, 2025.
A storm on the news does not mean your roof was hit. Hail often falls in narrow paths, so one street can be fine and the next one dented. That is why we look at the roof itself instead of guessing from a map.
How do you avoid storm-chaser roofers in Texas?
After a big storm, out-of-town crews often knock on doors. TDI's guidance for Texas homeowners:
Get more than one written bid with the company name, phone number, and address on it.
Read anything before you sign it. Some "inspection forms" or "estimates" are really contracts. Never sign one with blank spaces.
Skip any offer to waive or cover your deductible. In Texas it is illegal for a contractor to waive, absorb, or rebate your deductible, and insurers can ask for proof you paid it.
Don't pay the full amount up front, and be careful with large down payments.
Know who works for whom. Texas does not allow a roofer who is doing the work to act as your public adjuster or negotiate your claim.
What a roofer can do is inspect, photograph the damage, explain what they found, and write a clear estimate. That is what Vantage Roofing does.
Repair, replace, or leave it alone?
A repair makes sense when wind took a handful of shingles or a few pieces of ridge cap, or a limb broke one area, and the rest of the roof is sound.
A full replacement starts to make sense when hail bruised shingles across most slopes, when the roof was already near the end of its life, or when the decking is damaged beyond a small area.
Sometimes you don't need us. If the dents are only on a gutter, or the marks we find are age and wear rather than storm damage, we'll tell you so. You can then decide whether a claim is worth filing at all.
Vantage Roofing backs its work with a 10-year workmanship warranty on full replacements and up to 1 year on service repairs.
What happens on a Vantage Roofing storm inspection?
We ask when the storm hit and what you have already seen.
We check every slope, the ridges and edges, soft metals, gutters, and the attic when access allows.
You get photos of what we found, marked as hail, wind, or wear.
You get a written estimate for a repair or replacement, or a plain note that the roof is fine.
If you file a claim, our photos help you document the damage for your insurer.
Schedule a free storm damage inspection
Call (737) 383-1768 to schedule a free roof inspection after a storm in Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, or nearby. Tell us the storm date and whether any water is getting in. You can also reach us through our contact page, read what to do about a roof leak after rain, or see our roof repair guide for Austin.
Frequently asked questions
Can you come look at my roof after the storm before I call insurance?
Yes. Many homeowners want to know whether there is real damage before they open a claim. Vantage Roofing does a free roof inspection, takes photos, and tells you whether we see hail, wind, or just normal wear. If water is coming in, mention that when you call so we can talk about a tarp first.
Does homeowners insurance cover storm damage to a roof?
Many policies cover sudden storm damage from hail, a falling tree, or wind if your policy includes wind, but coverage, deductibles, and roof age rules differ. Call your agent or insurer to find out what yours covers. A roofer can document the damage with photos, but in Texas the roofer doing the work cannot act as your adjuster.
How fast can someone come out after a hail storm?
Call (737) 383-1768 and tell us whether anything is leaking. Active leaks get scheduled as soon as we can. After a large storm, many homes call at once, so timing depends on weather and the route that week. A dry roof with dents is still worth checking before the next rain.
I only see dents on my gutters. Is my roof damaged too?
Maybe. Dented gutters and vents show hail was big enough to mark soft metal, which is a reason to look closer. It does not prove the shingles were damaged. We check the slopes for bruises and soft spots and show you photos, so you know whether the roof or only the gutters took the hit.
Can wind damage show up weeks after the storm?
Yes. A shingle with a broken seal strip can stay in place for a while, then lift in the next strong gust or let wind-driven rain under it. If you find shingles in the yard or a new stain after a later rain, it may trace back to the earlier storm, so keep your dated photos.
Do you inspect metal and tile roofs for storm damage?
Yes. Vantage Roofing inspects shingle, metal, and tile roofs. On metal we look at dents, panel seams, trim, and fasteners. On tile we look for cracked, chipped, or slipped tiles and check the ridge and edges where wind does the most harm.
Comments