Storm and hurricane roof damage in Tampa Bay

Milton gusted to 93 mph at Tampa International and 101 mph at Albert Whitted in St. Petersburg on October 9, 2024, and put 10 to 20 inches of rain on the two counties in a day. Two years later, roofs around the bay are still being tarped, argued over with insurers, and replaced. This is the page for the night it happens and the week after: what to do, what a contractor does, and what the insurer expects.

Call and get connected with an independent, Florida-licensed roofing contractor who serves your part of Hillsborough or Pinellas. Say where the water is coming in and whether the roof is safe to walk; the contractor calls you back to schedule the dry-in.

The first 48 hours

Stop the water, document everything, and do not sign anything you have not read.

• Photograph the damage from the ground and from inside before anyone touches it: missing shingles, exposed underlayment, the ceiling stain, the wet insulation. Date-stamped photos are the claim.
• A tarp or an emergency dry-in (synthetic underlayment nailed over the exposed deck) is what a contractor can do the same day; it is a temporary repair and the insurer expects you to make it. Keep the receipt.
• Call your insurer to open the claim and get the claim number. Florida policies require prompt notice, and the adjuster's visit comes after the dry-in, not before.
• Do not sign an assignment of benefits. Florida banned assignment-of-benefits agreements on policies issued since January 1, 2023 (Statute 627.7152); a contractor who asks you to sign your claim over to them is asking for something the law no longer allows. The contractor writes the scope; you own the claim.

What the contractor does

The first visit is a dry-in and a written scope: which slopes lost shingles, whether the underlayment and deck are exposed, where the water got in, and whether this is a repair or the roof is gone. Wind-lifted shingles that did not blow off have often broken their seal strip and will lift again; a good contractor tests them rather than counting only the ones on the lawn.

The scope, the photos, and the contractor's license number go to your adjuster. If the adjuster's estimate and the contractor's scope disagree, that is a normal conversation, and it happens before the work, not after.

When the storm turns into a replacement

Florida's 25% rule (Statute 553.844) says that when more than 25% of a roof section is repaired, replaced, or recovered within 12 months, the whole section is brought to current code. Storm damage across several slopes crosses that line quickly. The exception since 2022: a roof built or replaced under the 2007 Florida Building Code or later only needs the repaired portion to meet current code, so a 2010 roof that lost one slope can be repaired to match.

A replacement after a storm is a permitted job with a final inspection, whichever city or county you are in, and the permit history is what the next insurer and the next buyer will look up.