Wind has damaged the roof. What to do now.

Inspect from the ground with binoculars or a phone camera zoomed in, and from inside the attic with a flashlight. Do not get on the roof. Then photograph everything the same week, because a wind claim reported months later is indistinguishable, to an insurer, from a roof that simply wore out.

If water is coming in right now, containment comes first and inspection can wait. What to do while it is still leaking.

What to look for from the ground

Missing shingles, or shingles lying in the yard or the neighbor’s.
Lifted or curled edges, particularly along a ridge or a rake edge.
A ridge cap that has shifted or is missing sections.
Creased shingles, where a gust folded one back and it settled again. This is real damage that looks like nothing from below, and it is the most commonly missed kind.
Exposed nail heads or bare patches of underlayment.
Damaged flashing at a chimney, a vent, or a wall junction. Most roof leaks are flashing leaks.
Bent or detached gutters and downspouts, and any siding that has been pulled.
Granules in the gutters or at the bottom of downspouts. Some granule loss is normal over a roof’s life; a sudden pile after a storm is not.

What to look for in the attic

Go up with a flashlight in daylight, when it is not raining.

Daylight visible through the roof deck anywhere.
Wet or dark streaks on the underside of the decking, or on the rafters.
Wet or matted insulation.
Water stains around chimneys, vents, and where a valley lands.
New nail pops or lifted decking.

Photograph what you find, and photograph the dry areas too, because a claim is easier to explain when you can show where the damage stops.

Storm or wear, and why it is the whole question

Most homeowners policies cover sudden damage from wind and hail, including the water that comes in through what the wind opened. Most exclude wear, deterioration, and poor maintenance.

So the argument is never “is there damage”. It is “did the storm do this”. What supports your side:

Dated photographs from the week of the storm.
A screenshot of the weather warning or a local report for that date.
Photographs of the yard, the street, and any neighboring damage.
Any earlier photographs of the roof looking sound. A real estate listing, a home inspection report, a family photograph with the house in it.
The age of the roof, and any receipts from work on it.

Do this in the first week

Photograph everything, ground level and attic, wide and close.
Report it to the insurer, even if you are unsure of the extent. Late notice is a reason to decline on its own.
Ask what your deductible is on this claim. In storm exposed states this is frequently a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat sum, and it can be several times what people assume. How percentage deductibles work.
Get it made watertight if anything is open. Emergency tarping, and who pays.
Keep every receipt.
Be careful who you sign with. The people knocking on doors after a storm are not all the same. What to ask a contractor who arrives uninvited.

Getting it looked at properly

A roofer or a licensed inspector should go up, not you. Ask for photographs of every slope, close ups of any damage, and a written report that says what they found and where. That document is what the adjuster reads.

If the insurer’s adjuster and your roofer disagree, ask them to meet on site at the same time. It resolves more disputes than any amount of correspondence.

What not to do

Do not remove damaged material before it is documented.
Do not let anyone “test” the roof by lifting shingles, which creates damage that was not there.
Do not sign a contract that starts work before the insurer has inspected, unless it is genuine emergency mitigation.
Do not wait for the next storm to see if it leaks. A roof that has been opened will get worse, and the delay becomes the insurer’s argument.

The short version

Look from the ground and the attic, never from the roof. Creased shingles and granules in the gutters are the signs people miss. Photograph it the same week with something that dates the storm, report promptly, and find out what your wind deductible actually is before you commit to anything.