Storm

Storm Damage Roof Checklist for Chesapeake Homeowners

By Chesapeake Roofing Pros · September 11, 2026 · 4 min read

Chesapeake doesn't get the hail that keeps roofers busy in Kansas and Colorado. What it gets is wind: tropical remnants from August through October, and nor'easters from November into March that can blow 40–60 mph for a day and a half straight. Hurricane Isabel in 2003, Irene in 2011, Matthew in 2016 and the January 2018 nor'easter each stripped thousands of roofs across the city. The damage looks different from hail, and the checklist for the morning after is different too.

This is what to walk through, in order, without getting on the roof.

First: safety, then photos

• Stay off the roof. Wet shingles on a two-story roof are how people end up at Chesapeake Regional the day after a storm.
• Check for downed lines before you walk the yard. Dominion Energy asks that you treat every downed wire as live.
• Photograph everything from the ground with your phone, which time-stamps the image: shingles in the yard, the slope they came from, the gutters, any water inside. Take wide shots and close-ups. These photos are the foundation of a claim.

Walk the yard

• Shingles or shingle pieces on the ground. Note which side of the house. Wind damage is directional — the slope that faced the storm took the hit. Nor'easters come from the northeast; tropical remnants usually from the south and east as they pass.
• Granules in piles below the downspouts — a heavy rain always washes some, but a thick layer after a storm means shingles were scoured.
• Ridge cap pieces. The ridge is the first thing to go in wind because it's the most exposed. If you find L-shaped pieces, the ridge is open.
• Limbs and debris. Chesapeake's loblolly pines and water oaks come down when the ground is saturated and the wind passes 50 mph. Any limb that hit the roof needs a close look even if nothing looks broken.

Look at the roof from the ground

Use binoculars or your phone's zoom. Check each slope for:

• Missing shingles — obvious dark rectangles where the underlayment or old shingles show
• Lifted or flipped shingles — tabs standing up or folded back
• Creased shingles — the subtle one. A shingle that lifted in the wind and lay back down has a horizontal crease across it that broke the mat. It looks fine from the street and will leak within a year. These are the shingles adjusters miss from the ground and the reason a roof needs to be walked after a storm.
• Flashing — anything metal that's bent, lifted, or missing at the chimney, walls and vents
• Gutters — pulled away, bent, or full of granules and shingle pieces
• Skylights — cracked glass, lifted flashing
• Satellite dishes and vents — anything that spun or pulled its fasteners out has opened a hole

Check inside

• Ceilings and the tops of walls on the upper floor, especially under valleys and around the chimney
• The attic with a flashlight — wet insulation, daylight through the deck, dripping nail tips
• Around windows on the windward side — a nor'easter drives rain in behind flashing and trim, and that's often mistaken for a roof leak

Decide about a claim

Now you have the information. A few missing shingles is a $300–$800 repair, and if your policy carries a wind deductible of 1–5% of the dwelling limit — common on coastal Virginia policies now — that repair is under the deductible and shouldn't be a claim. A creased slope, a tree strike, or water inside is a claim.

Either way, get a roofer on the roof within a week or two while the damage is fresh and clearly tied to the storm. Storm damage roof repair Chesapeake wide is our busiest work in the two weeks after any named system, and a written inspection with photos from the roof is what turns a maybe into an approved claim.

What to expect at the door

Within days of any storm, out-of-town crews will be knocking on doors in Greenbrier and Great Bridge. Some are legitimate. Before you sign anything, check the Virginia contractor license on the DPOR website, don't pay a deposit for "materials" to someone who arrived in a truck with out-of-state plates, and never sign an assignment of benefits that hands your claim to the contractor. Our post on questions to ask a roofing contractor covers the rest.

If water is coming in now

Call for emergency tarping. A tarp is $300–$700, it's covered by most policies as emergency mitigation, and it's the difference between replacing shingles and replacing shingles plus drywall plus a bedroom floor.