MEMPHIS GUIDE

When a storm opens the house

Severe thunderstorms and the occasional tornado are part of living here. The water-damage note starts after people are safe: which opening let the rain in.

By Mike M · Sources checked October 5, 2026 · How we write these guides

People first, photos second

During a tornado warning the plan is shelter, not documentation. When the weather is over and the building is safe to enter, note holes in the roof, broken windows, and ceilings that got wet. If the structure is shifted or a wall is open to the outside, that is a building-safety problem before it is a drying problem. The emergency page is the safety version of that first hour.

Plaster and attic drips

Older Memphis ceilings can stain far from the actual hole because water runs along lath. Say which rooms stained and whether the attic is wet. Do not walk an attic you cannot see the floor of. A bucket under a drip is a reasonable temporary step. A ladder on wet ground in leftover wind is not.

Wind-driven rain on brick and windows

Rain that blows through a window or saturates an old masonry wall can wet a room with the roof intact. Note the direction of the wall. That helps both the person who will seal the opening and the person who will dry the plaster. Outside floodwater from a rising creek is a different sentence from wind-driven rain; the insurance notes are where that wording matters.

Two companies, one timeline

Drying under an open roof wastes the day. Ask the restoration quote to state that the opening must be closed first, and ask the roofer or board-up crew what temporary cover they will actually install. Write the order down. Structural repairs and electrical work may be a permit question separate from drying; the permit guide tells you to check the office for that address. What stretches the invoice is covered in the cost factors, still without made-up prices.