Wind damage shows up as missing, creased or torn shingles, lifted edges and new debris marks. Here's how to check your roof safely from the ground.

If a big blow just came through Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Navarre or Panama City Beach, the first look should happen from your yard, not from a ladder. Most of what matters can be seen from the ground with a phone camera and a bit of patience. The rest needs someone on the roof who does this every day.

This guide is written by the crew at Superior Roofing & Restoration, which runs a Panhandle office in Miramar Beach. It covers what wind actually does to a roof and when a small problem is just a repair.

Start with safety, then the walk-around

Wait until the weather has fully cleared and local officials say it's safe to be out. Downed lines are the real danger after a Gulf storm, and Ready.gov tells people to watch for debris and downed power lines. Treat every wire on the ground as live and stay away from it. Don't climb onto a wet roof. Ever.

Then walk the whole house, slowly. Go all the way around, including the side you never look at because it faces the neighbor's fence. Take photos of each roof slope from the same spots each time, wide first, then zoomed in. A photo with a date stamp beats a memory when you're comparing next month.

Things to look for from the ground:

  • Shingles or pieces of shingles in the yard or the gutters
  • Bare patches where you can see dark underlayment or wood
  • Shingle tabs that are flipped up or folded back
  • Ridge caps (the shingles along the peak) that are missing or loose
  • Metal drip edge or flashing that's bent or pulled loose
  • Dents or scuffs where a branch or debris hit

On metal roofs, look for panels that have lifted at the eave, missing trim at the ridge or rakes, and fasteners that have backed out. On tile, look for cracked or missing tiles, especially along the hips and ridges.

What wind does to shingles, and why the edges go first

Wind doesn't push straight down on a roof. It pulls up. Air moving over the roof creates suction, and the pull is strongest at the edges and corners. The IBHS FORTIFIED Roof program puts it simply: roof damage often begins when wind gets under the roof edge. That's why the first shingles to go are usually along the eaves and rakes, and at the corners of the house.

Once one tab lifts, the next one is easier to catch. That's how a small loss turns into a whole patch of bare deck in a single storm.

Engineers who study shingle wind damage say a sealed shingle that wind has worked on leaves lasting marks. In a 2017 paper published by IIBEC, the authors list creases, folds, tears and missing shingles or pieces of shingles as the evidence. They also point out that creases on newer, more flexible shingles can be hard to see without a hand under the tab.

So a shingle that's simply loose, with no crease and no tear, isn't automatically wind damage. Shingles can come unsealed for other reasons too. The same paper names aging, installation problems like under-driven nails in the sealant strip, and the daily heat and cool cycle that Florida roofs live through. Knowing the difference matters, because it changes what the fix is.

What wind speed will damage a roof?

There's no single number. Honestly, anyone who gives you one is guessing.

Shingles are sold with wind ratings from lab tests. One common test, ASTM D3161, rates shingles Class A, D or F, and Class F corresponds to a 110 mph fan test, according to an explainer in Professional Roofing, the National Roofing Contractors Association's magazine. A second test, ASTM D7158, uses a different method and its own Class D, G and H labels. The same article notes those calculated ratings assume certain building conditions, like a mean roof height of 60 feet or less, and that roofs outside those assumptions need more engineering review.

In real life, what decides whether your roof holds is a mix of things the label can't tell you:

  • How old the shingles are and whether the sealant strips are still bonded
  • Whether the nails were placed where the manufacturer says, and enough of them
  • How the edges were finished (drip edge, starter strip, rake shingles)
  • Whether the roof deck itself is still tightly fastened to the framing

A ten-year-old roof that was nailed right can come through a storm that strips a newer roof that wasn't. Installation quality matters as much as the label.

Damage you won't see from the yard

Some of the worst problems after a windstorm aren't visible from the street.

Lifted but reseated shingles. A tab can flip up in a gust and lay back down. It looks fine. The sealant bond is broken, and the next storm takes it.

Nail pops and backed-out fasteners. Repeated flexing can work nails loose. They push up through the shingle above and become a leak path.

Water under the shingles. Wind-driven rain gets pushed sideways and uphill, under flashing and through gaps that never leak in a normal shower. If the deck seams aren't sealed, that water finds the plywood. IBHS's FORTIFIED standard requires a sealed roof deck for exactly this reason.

Attic clues. If you can get into the attic safely, take a flashlight and look at the underside of the roof deck. Fresh water stains, damp insulation, daylight around nails or rusty nail tips are all worth a photo. Step only on the framing, never on the ceiling drywall between it.

Inside the house, check ceilings near outside walls and around vents, chimneys and skylights. A brown ring that wasn't there last week is a roof problem until proven otherwise.

Repair or replace after a windstorm?

Plenty of storm damage is just a repair. A handful of missing shingles on a roof with years of life left gets matched and nailed down, the tabs around it get resealed, and you move on. If that's what your roof needs, that's what we'll tell you. You can read more on our roof repair page.

Replacement starts making sense when the damage is spread across several slopes, the shingles are brittle enough that they crack when you try to lift them for a repair, the deck underneath is soft or delaminating, or the roof was near the end of its life before the storm anyway. An old roof that loses a lot of shingles often can't be patched cleanly, because the old shingles break when the repair crew works around them.

What is the 25 percent rule in Florida?

You'll hear this one a lot on the Panhandle. Older guidance in Florida pushed homeowners toward replacing a whole roof when more than a quarter of it needed work. Florida law changed that for newer roofs. Under section 553.844(5) of the Florida Statutes, if 25 percent or more of a roofing system that was built or repaired under the 2007 Florida Building Code or later is repaired, replaced or recovered, only the part being worked on has to meet the current code.

What that means in practice depends on your roof's permit history and your local building department. Ask your roofer to look up the permit date before anyone talks about tearing the whole thing off.

Hiring someone after a storm

The days after a big storm bring a wave of trucks with out-of-state plates. Some are fine. Some aren't.

In Florida, roofing work requires a state license, and you can look up any contractor on the Department of Business and Professional Regulation site at MyFloridaLicense.com. Doing contracting work without a license during a declared state of emergency is a third-degree felony under section 489.127(2)(c) of the Florida Statutes. That's a good reason to check the license number before anyone climbs your ladder.

A few other things worth doing:

  • Get the company's name, license number, local address and phone number in writing
  • Ask who will actually be on your roof, their crew or a sub
  • Ask for photos of everything they say is damaged
  • Don't sign anything on the driveway the same day

If water is already coming in

Put a bucket under the drip and take photos. Then get the opening covered. A professionally installed tarp buys time and keeps a small leak from becoming a ceiling. Our emergency roof repair team handles tarping and leak response, and the company line is 844-TARP-247.

Don't try to tarp a roof yourself in the wind or on wet shingles. The roof will still be there tomorrow.

FAQ

How can you tell if your roof is damaged after a storm?

Look for missing or torn shingles, lifted tabs, bent flashing and debris in the gutters or yard. Inside, look for new ceiling stains near outside walls. Photograph everything from the ground first.

Is a loose shingle always wind damage?

No. Wind leaves creases or tears. A shingle that's simply unsealed can come from age or from how it was nailed. A roofer should check it by hand.

Can a few missing shingles be repaired?

Usually, yes, if the rest of the roof has life left and the shingles aren't brittle. A good roofer will match the shingle as closely as possible and reseal the surrounding tabs.

Should I get on the roof myself?

No. Wet shingles and loose debris make storm-damaged roofs dangerous even for pros. Do your check from the ground and the attic.

Book a roof inspection on the Emerald Coast

Our Miramar Beach office covers Pensacola to Panama City Beach. An inspection visit runs about 90 minutes: we walk the roof, take photos of what we find, show you a sample board, measure, and give you a firm written number. If it's a repair, we'll say so. Call the Panhandle office at 850-987-0656, or book an inspection here. Florida roofing license CCC1325604.

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