Storm Damage: What to Do in the First 24 Hours

Georgia storms produce a consistent set of damage — trees down, shingles off, water in through a compromised roof, and occasionally wind damage to siding and gutters. What you do in the first day affects both the cost of the repair and whether your insurance claim goes smoothly.

Safety, before anything

• Treat every downed line as live. Never approach a tree or a fence touching a power line. Call the utility.
• Look up before walking anywhere. Broken limbs hung in a canopy come down without warning, and this is where most post-storm injuries happen.
• Do not enter a structurally damaged area. If a tree is on the roof or a wall is compromised, stay out until someone qualified has looked at it.
• Smell for gas. If you smell gas, leave, then call from outside.
• Do not run a generator in a garage, a crawlspace, or near an open window. Carbon monoxide from generators kills people after every major storm.
• Watch for standing water near electrical panels or outlets.

Stop the damage getting worse

Insurance expects you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and the cost of doing so is generally covered.

1. 1Tarp the roof if it is safe to do so, or have someone do it. Water coming through a compromised roof does more damage over the following week than the storm did in an hour.
2. 2Board or cover broken windows and openings.
3. 3Move belongings away from active leaks and out of wet areas.
4. 4Get water out. Extract standing water and get air moving. Mold begins within a day or two in Georgia humidity.
5. 5Shut off water to a damaged line, and shut off power to a wet area at the breaker.
6. 6Keep receipts for everything you spend on emergency mitigation.

The insurance sequence

1. 1Call your insurer promptly and open the claim. Most policies require prompt notice.
2. 2Document everything — photos, video, a written list of damage, and receipts for emergency work.
3. 3Do not throw damaged items away until the adjuster has seen them, or at least until you have thorough photographs.
4. 4Meet the adjuster on site if you can and walk the damage with them. Things get missed when nobody points them out.
5. 5Get your own repair estimates. You are entitled to, and an adjuster's initial figure is a starting point.
6. 6Read the settlement. Understand whether it is actual cash value or replacement cost, what the deductible is, and whether there is a separate wind or hail deductible — these are common in Georgia and they are often a percentage rather than a flat amount.

Storm-chasing contractors

After every significant Georgia storm, out-of-area crews arrive and knock doors. Some are legitimate. Many are not, and the pattern is consistent.

Warning signs:

• Door-knocking immediately after a storm, particularly with out-of-state plates.
• Pressure to sign today, or to sign something that 'just authorises an inspection' — read it, because it is often a contract assigning your insurance benefits.
• Offering to cover your deductible or to 'work it into the claim'. This is insurance fraud and it exposes you.
• Large up-front deposits, cash only, no written contract.
• No local address, no verifiable license, no proof of insurance.
• Climbing on your roof uninvited and then reporting damage.

Protect yourself: verify licensing and insurance, get multiple written estimates, use a contractor with a local presence you can find next year, never pay large sums up front, and never sign anything you have not read. Our guide on how to vet a contractor covers the full checklist.

Tree damage specifically

• Do not attempt large tree work yourself. Storm-damaged trees are under unpredictable tension and a cut in the wrong place releases it violently.
• A tree on a structure is an insurance matter — document before removal.
• A tree down in the yard touching nothing may not be covered. Check the policy.
• Assess remaining trees. A storm that took one tree often loosened others. Leaning trunks, heaved soil and cracked limbs need evaluation before the next storm.

The damage you find later

Some storm damage is not obvious on day one:

• Lifted or creased shingles that leak weeks later
• Damaged flashing at chimneys and valleys
• Gutter and fascia damage
• Water that travelled inside a wall and shows up as a stain
• Damaged HVAC condenser fins or a shifted unit
• Fence posts loosened rather than broken

Walk the property again a week later, and again after the next heavy rain.

We can help with the repair

Wright Way Services handles storm repair — roofing repairs, water damage, siding, interior restoration — across Newnan, Peachtree City, Sharpsburg, Senoia and Fayette County. Local, licensed, and here next year. (770) 301-4638.