Read this part first
Do not go outside. Do not go on the roof. Do not get on a ladder. No roof is worth a life, and there is nothing you can do to the outside of a house in hurricane wind that will help.
Every roofer in Florida, including us, stays on the ground until the wind drops. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Understand that emergency services often suspend response once sustained winds reach roughly forty five miles per hour, so you may be on your own for several hours. Follow instructions from Pasco County Emergency Management.
A family in Jasmine Estates called us at two in the morning during a storm a few years ago. Water was coming down through a hallway light fixture. They were understandably frightened, and the honest answer we gave them was that we could not come, not until the wind stopped. What we could do was walk them through the next four hours on the phone. They killed the breaker to that circuit, moved everyone to the other side of the house, put a tote under the drip, and drained a bulge in the ceiling into a bucket before it came down on its own.
When we got there the following afternoon, the repair was a pipe boot and about six feet of drywall. Without those four hours it would have been the whole hallway ceiling, the insulation above it, and the flooring below. This guide is that phone call, written down.
What to Do the Moment You See Water
Cut power to the affected area
Water and electricity are the real danger here, not the drywall. If water is anywhere near a light fixture, ceiling fan, outlet, or the attic where wiring runs, go to your breaker panel and shut off the circuits for that part of the house.
If the panel itself is wet, or you would have to stand in water to reach it, do not touch it. Leave that part of the house, keep everyone out, and wait.
Move people and belongings away
Get everyone out of the room, especially children and pets. Wet drywall gets heavy fast, and a saturated ceiling can come down in one piece without much warning.
Move furniture, electronics, and anything with sentimental value to a dry part of the house. If you cannot move something, cover it with plastic sheeting or a trash bag and lift it off the floor on blocks or books.
Contain the water
Buckets, totes, and trash cans under the active drips. Put an old towel in the bottom of each one to stop the splashing, which otherwise spreads water across the floor and up the walls.
Lay towels or plastic sheeting on the floor around the containers. Check and empty them regularly. A hurricane can deliver rain for twelve to twenty hours, and a five gallon bucket fills faster than people expect.
Drain a bulging ceiling deliberately
If you see a sagging, bulging spot in the ceiling, there is a pocket of water sitting on top of the drywall. Left alone, that pocket grows until the whole section fails at once, which is far more damage and genuinely dangerous if someone is underneath.
The safer move is to release it in a controlled way. Put a bucket underneath, stand to the side rather than directly below, wear eye protection if you have it, and use a screwdriver to make a small hole at the lowest point of the bulge. Let it drain. Make a second small hole if the flow is slow. You will repair a few small holes instead of replacing a ceiling.
Confirm the power to that area is off first, because you do not know what is above that drywall.
Photograph everything as it happens
Take photos and video from a safe position while the water is actively coming in. Get the buckets, the stained ceiling, the bulge, the affected rooms, and anything that is getting damaged. Video with the sound of the storm is useful because it establishes timing.
Insurers pay attention to whether damage happened during the storm or afterward. Documenting it live removes that question entirely. There is more on this in the insurance documentation guide.
Stay off the ladder and out of the attic during the peak
Going into the attic during the height of a storm is a bad idea. Visibility is poor, you can step through a ceiling easily, and if the roof deck is compromised you may be putting yourself directly under the failure.
If the wind has genuinely eased and you feel it is safe, you can look into the attic to find where water is entering, and put a container or plastic sheeting under the drip up there to catch it before it reaches the ceiling. Only if it is safe. Never during the strong bands.
If a section of roof is gone
Sometimes it is not a leak. Sometimes wind takes an area of roof off and water is pouring in. If that happens, close interior doors to contain the water to as few rooms as possible, get everyone to the most interior and structurally sound room you have, ideally a downstairs bathroom, closet, or hallway with no exterior walls, and stay there.
Do not go outside to look at it. Do not try to cover it. There is nothing that can be done about an open roof while the wind is blowing, and that is exactly when people get killed. Wait it out, then call us.
When the Wind Finally Stops
Wait for an official all clear rather than a lull. The calm inside the eye of a storm can last half an hour or more, and the wind on the far side arrives suddenly and from the opposite direction. Plenty of people have gone outside during the eye and been caught.
Once it is genuinely over, do a careful walk around at ground level and look for downed power lines, which you should assume are live, standing water, and debris. Then photograph everything before you clean up a single thing, call your insurance carrier to open the claim, and call a licensed local roofer for an emergency tarp.
Keep running fans and a dehumidifier in the wet rooms if you have power. Mold gets going in wet drywall and carpet in roughly twenty four to forty eight hours in Florida humidity, and secondary mold damage is often argued over on claims. Drying the house out fast is both a repair decision and a claim decision.
When not to spend money with us
If your ceiling has one small stain and no active dripping after the storm, you do not need an emergency call at emergency prices. Take photos, keep an eye on it, and get on the schedule for a normal inspection in the coming days. A stain that is not growing is not an emergency.
Also, be careful about who you let start work in the first forty eight hours. If somebody is offering to fix your roof at three in the morning during a storm, that is not a roofer. Read the guide on avoiding roofing scams before you sign anything.
When the storm has passed and it is safe, call Farrell Roofing at (727) 845-7663. We do emergency roof repair and tarping across Port Richey, New Port Richey, Hudson, Holiday, Trinity, Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor, Odessa, Land O' Lakes, and Spring Hill. Our shop is on Commerce Ave in Port Richey and has been since 2003, and our Florida license is CCC1327707. We are not going anywhere after the storm.
Next, read what to photograph after a storm. The first few hours after the wind stops are when the most important documentation gets taken, or missed.
This Resource Center provides general educational information for Florida homeowners. It is not legal, insurance, engineering, or emergency management advice. Always follow instructions from local emergency management officials, and contact your insurance carrier with questions about your individual policy or claim.
For official storm information and evacuation orders, see the National Hurricane Center, Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Pasco County Emergency Management.