A severe storm just tore through Central Illinois. The sirens have stopped, the power is flickering back on, and your first thought is your roof. What you do in the next 24 hours can mean the difference between a fully covered insurance claim and thousands of dollars out of your own pocket. This is your complete action plan – step by step – from a contractor who has handled over a thousand storm damage claims across Morgan, Sangamon, and 12 other Central Illinois counties.

Central Illinois sits in one of the most active severe weather corridors in the country. What you do in the first 24 hours after a storm determines your insurance outcome.

Step 1: Make Sure Everyone Is Safe

Before you even think about your roof – make sure your family is safe and accounted for. If a tornado or severe thunderstorm hit your area check for these hazards immediately:

Downed power lines. Stay at least 35 feet away from any fallen lines and call your utility company immediately. Assume every downed wire is live. Gas leaks. If you smell natural gas leave the house immediately and call 911 from a neighbor’s property. Structural damage. If you see sagging ceilings, cracked walls, or hear creaking sounds evacuate and do not re-enter until a professional clears the structure. Standing water. If your home has taken on water do not walk through it – especially if electrical outlets are submerged.

Step 2: The Ground-Level Damage Walk

Once it is safe to go outside walk the full perimeter of your property and look for these indicators of roof damage – all visible from the ground:

Shingles on the ground or in the yard. This is the most obvious sign. Collect them and photograph them where they fell. Dents in metal surfaces. Check your gutters, downspouts, air conditioning unit, mailbox, and car. Dented metal is the single most reliable ground-level indicator of hail size and intensity. Damaged siding. Cracked, chipped, or dented vinyl or aluminum siding indicates the same forces hit your roof. Broken or cracked window screens. Screens are extremely sensitive to hail and wind-driven debris.

Granules in gutters and at downspout discharge points. Asphalt shingle granules look like coarse dark sand. A heavy accumulation after a storm indicates the shingles above took significant impacts. Damaged soffit or fascia. Wind can rip soffit panels loose and bend fascia boards – check under your roof overhangs. Fallen tree branches on or near the roof. Even branches that did not penetrate the roof may have damaged shingles where they landed or scraped across the surface.

Storm aftermath like this uprooted tree is exactly the type of ground-level damage you need to document immediately. Check your entire property perimeter before calling anyone.

Step 3: Document Everything With Photos and Video

This step is critical and most homeowners do not do it thoroughly enough. Your phone is your most powerful tool right now. Here is exactly what to capture:

Wide shots of your entire property showing the overall scene – storm debris, fallen branches, the general state of your neighborhood. Medium shots of each side of your home showing the full roofline, siding, and any visible damage. Close-up shots of every piece of damage you can reach from the ground – dented gutters, cracked siding, shingles on the lawn, granule accumulation. Video walkthrough narrating what you see as you walk the perimeter. Insurance adjusters and attorneys have told us that video narration is increasingly valuable in contested claims because it establishes timeline and context that photos alone cannot.

Also photograph your neighbors’ damage if it is visible from public areas. Widespread neighborhood damage strengthens every individual claim by establishing that a significant weather event affected the area – not just isolated wear and tear on one home.

Step 4: Prevent Further Damage With Temporary Protection

Your homeowner insurance policy includes a duty to mitigate clause. This means you are legally required to take reasonable steps to prevent additional damage after the initial event. If you have an active leak or visible opening in your roof here is what to do:

Place buckets or containers under active leaks inside the home. Move furniture and valuables away from the affected area. If water is coming through a ceiling – carefully poke a small hole in the center of the bulge with a screwdriver and place a bucket underneath. This prevents the entire ceiling from collapsing under the water weight. Call a roofing contractor for emergency tarping. Campbell Construction provides emergency tarp service for active roof damage across all 14 counties we serve. A properly installed tarp prevents water intrusion until permanent repairs can be completed.

Close-up of properly installed asphalt shingles showing the granule texture that protects your home. This is the quality your roof deserves – not a storm chaser who will be gone next month.

Step 5: Call a Local Roofing Contractor BEFORE Your Insurance Company

This is the single most important piece of advice in this entire article and it is the step most homeowners get backwards.

Call a local roofing contractor first. Then call your insurance company.

Here is why the order matters. When you call your insurance company they will send an adjuster. That adjuster works for the insurance company – not for you. Their job is to assess the damage and the company will determine a payout based on that assessment. If you do not have your own professional inspection and documentation before the adjuster arrives you are relying entirely on the insurance company’s assessment of damage to your own home.

A reputable local contractor will inspect your roof for free, document every point of damage with professional photography, and provide a detailed scope of work with line-item pricing. When the adjuster arrives your contractor can be present to walk the roof together ensuring nothing is missed or undervalued. This is standard practice and insurance companies expect it.

This is what a quality roof replacement looks like when it is done right. Clean install, architectural shingles, and a home that is protected for decades – backed by a Lifetime Material Warranty.

Step 6: File Your Insurance Claim

Once you have your contractor’s inspection report and documentation in hand – now call your insurance company to open a claim. Here is what you need to have ready:

Your policy number – found on your declarations page, the document you received when you purchased or renewed your policy. The date of the storm – be specific, as the National Weather Service archives severe weather events by date and location. A general description of the damage – you do not need to be technical, something like “our roof was damaged by hail and wind during the storm on April 8th and we have missing shingles and dented gutters” is sufficient. Your contractor’s name and contact information – the insurance company will want to know who inspected the property.

After you file the claim your insurance company will assign an adjuster and schedule an inspection – typically within one to three weeks depending on the volume of claims in the area. This is where having your contractor present becomes critical. Learn more about how we handle the complete insurance claim process from start to finish.

Step 7: What NOT to Do in the First 24 Hours

Just as important as knowing what to do is knowing what mistakes to avoid. These are the most common errors we see homeowners make after storms across Morgan County, Sangamon County, and the rest of Central Illinois:

Do not sign anything with a contractor at your door. No legitimate company requires a signed contract during their first visit after a storm. If someone shows up uninvited and asks you to sign – especially anything that assigns your insurance benefits to them – say no and close the door.

Do not make permanent repairs before filing your claim. If you replace shingles or repair damage before the insurance adjuster sees it you may void your ability to claim those costs. Temporary mitigation like tarping is fine and expected – but permanent repairs should wait until after the adjuster inspection.

Do not assume your roof is fine because you cannot see damage from the ground. The most expensive storm damage is the kind you cannot see from below. Cracked shingles, broken seal strips, and compromised flashing all require a professional on-roof inspection to identify.

Do not wait weeks or months to act. Evidence degrades. Adjusters get backlogged. Secondary damage from water intrusion accumulates. The first 24 hours set the pace for your entire claim outcome.

Do not accept the first insurance check as final. The initial payout is almost never the complete amount. The supplemental process is where your contractor negotiates for the full scope of work. Many homeowners leave thousands of dollars on the table because they do not know about supplementals.

The Campbell Construction Storm Response Process

We have refined our storm response process over 25 years and thousands of claims across Central Illinois. Here is exactly what happens when you call us after a storm:

Within 24 hours: We schedule and complete a full roof inspection at your property. Our inspector documents every point of damage with high-resolution photos, measures hail impact density, checks all penetrations and flashings, and inspects your attic for interior signs of water intrusion.

Same day as inspection: You receive a detailed inspection report with photos and our professional assessment of whether the damage meets the threshold for an insurance claim. If it does we help you file. If it does not we tell you honestly – we will never push you into a claim that will not be approved.

Adjuster visit: We coordinate with your insurance adjuster and meet them at your property. We walk the roof together ensuring every point of damage documented in our inspection is also captured in the adjuster’s report. This is where claims are won or lost – and where having a local expert present makes a measurable difference in your payout.

Supplementals: If the insurance company’s initial scope of work does not cover the full extent of necessary repairs we file a supplement with additional documentation and line-item justification. We handle this entire process at no additional cost to you.

Repair or replacement: Once your claim is approved and funded we schedule your storm damage repair or full roof replacement. Most residential projects are completed in one to two days. Your roof is backed by our Lifetime Material Warranty and your manufacturer warranty is registered at project completion.

Why Central Illinois Gets Hit So Hard

Central Illinois sits in one of the most active severe weather corridors in the United States. The flat terrain of the Illinois River valley – stretching from Cass County through Morgan County and into Sangamon County – offers almost no natural windbreak when storm systems push through from the west and southwest.

According to NOAA data Illinois averages over 50 significant hail events per year with Central Illinois counties consistently among the hardest hit. Springfield, Jacksonville, and the surrounding communities experience an average of three to five significant hail or wind events annually – any one of which can cause enough roof damage to warrant an insurance claim.

This is not a question of if your roof will be damaged by a storm. It is a question of when. Having a plan in place before storm season – knowing exactly what to do in the first 24 hours – puts you ahead of your neighbors and ahead of the insurance backlog every single time.