How to Spot Wind Damage After a Texas Storm

Hail damage is photogenic. Wind damage is sneaky. After a major storm, homeowners look up at their roof, see no obvious holes, and assume the wind passed them by. Then the next rainstorm finds a slow leak and the timeline of the original storm is too far back to claim. Wind damage gets missed more than any other storm claim type in Texas.

How wind damages a roof

Wind does not punch through shingles. It lifts them — peeling the shingle tab up off the tar seal that holds it down. Once that seal breaks, the shingle never re-adheres. Every following rain finds the unsealed gap and slowly tracks water under the shingle into the underlayment.

Sustained winds above 60 mph break seals on most asphalt shingles. Gusts in the 80 to 95 mph range — routine for Texas spring storms — can lift ridge cap, tear off three-tab shingles entirely, and bend metal flashing.

The four signs to look for

1. 1Lifted shingle tabs — visible from a low angle in raking sunlight. The shingle sits slightly raised at the bottom edge.
2. 2Missing shingles in a clean line across one slope (almost always the windward side)
3. 3Torn or missing ridge cap shingles along the peak
4. 4Broken or bent metal flashing around the chimney, dormers, and roof-to-wall transitions

The invisible damage

The most damaging wind effect is the one you cannot see from the ground: broken seals on shingles that did not get blown off. The shingle is still there, but the asphalt strip that held it down has cracked. A roofer can find this by lifting the shingle tab — if it comes up without resistance, the seal is broken. Adjusters document this with photos and measure the unsealed area in square feet to determine if the claim warrants a partial or full roof replacement.

When to file

File when documented wind damage covers more than 20 to 25 percent of the roof field, or when there is structural damage (lifted decking, exposed underlayment, missing flashing). Single-shingle wind damage usually qualifies as a repair, not a claim — and a small claim hurts your record more than it helps your wallet.