The windstorm came through the Columbia River Gorge corridor in January 2024 and hit eastern Gresham harder than the forecast suggested. By the following morning, I had three calls from homeowners who had already been told by their first responders to cover their roofs before the next rain. That instruction — tarp it now — is the right call for weatherproofing. It is the wrong call for documentation. Once a tarp goes on, the damage visible on the roof surface before it was covered becomes a matter of dispute, and adjusters know it.
The window between the storm and the tarps
I was on site at the first house, a 2,200-square-foot ranch on Northeast Burnside, before 8 a.m. The tarp crew was scheduled for 10:30. That gave me roughly two and a half hours, which is enough time to run a full drone survey of the roof surface and get close-up still coverage of every problem zone. I called it a storm survey window: the period between the wind stopping and the tarps going on is the only time the pre-tarp condition is on the record.
Walking the roof is not an option immediately after a storm: debris is unpredictable, wet shingles are slick, and the decking condition under damaged sections is unknown. The drone sees the whole surface in 12 to 15 minutes without anyone on the roof, and the footage carries embedded GPS coordinates, altitude, and a timestamp — making it verifiable as to when and where it was captured.
Flying the storm pattern
A storm-damage survey is not the same flight as a routine inspection. For storm damage, I run the grid once at 30 feet for overview, then hunt. Wind damage has a direction: it comes from somewhere and hits the windward slope first. I find that entry point in the overview, then move to low oblique passes over the damage zones for close-up video of the failure mode.
On this Gresham roof, wind had come out of the east down the Gorge — exactly where Gorge wind always comes from. In the oblique passes at 12 to 14 feet, I could see shingles that had lifted and re-seated — identifiable by the crease at the nail line — alongside shingles that had torn free and left raw decking exposed. I logged each damaged section by position: north or south end, distance from ridge, and ridge-to-eave row number. That log went into the file with the video clips.
Ground-level coverage after the drone is down
Drone footage establishes the overall pattern. Ground-level coverage establishes the specific details. After the flight, I walked the perimeter with a mirrorless and a 200mm lens, filling the frame with individual damaged shingles to read the self-sealing strip condition, nail line, and whether granule surface was intact. That detail does not read in drone footage.
I documented the gutters: storm debris tells you whether damage was from the current event or pre-existing. Here the gutters were full of pine needles from the Douglas firs on the west side, confirming wind direction. Oregon’s Gorge wind events are on NWS record by station and time. I include that data in every storm claim file — paired with the timestamped footage, it establishes the damage came from the specific event, not deferred maintenance.
Handing the file to the adjuster
The file I handed off included: the raw drone footage, a 4-minute edited clip with labels on each damage zone, the full-resolution still set from the telephoto, the GPS coordinates of each flight waypoint, and the NWS event data for the January storm. The tarp went on at 10:40 a.m. The documentation was complete before it did.
The adjuster approved the east slope and ridge caps without a site visit, on the basis of the footage. The remaining dispute was two lifted shingles on the west slope attributed to pre-existing condition. The drone footage showed that zone with no granule wear and no prior repair material, supporting the homeowner’s position. That detail was only visible because the oblique pass had been flown before the tarps went on.
For repair work in the Gresham area after documentation is complete, a Gresham roofer experienced with Gorge wind event damage will understand the failure modes that east-wind storms produce on west-facing slopes.
Frequently asked questions
Why does it matter to document a storm-damaged roof before the tarps go on? Once a tarp covers the roof, the pre-tarp condition is no longer verifiable. An adjuster who sees only the post-tarp state cannot independently confirm the extent of damage shown in a claim. Pre-tarp footage with embedded GPS and timestamp metadata establishes the condition at the time of capture and limits the grounds for disputing individual damage zones.
What should storm-damage roof footage include to support an insurance claim? An overview pass showing the whole roof surface, oblique close-up passes over each damage zone with GPS and timestamp, still close-ups of individual failure points from the perimeter using a telephoto, gutter and debris documentation, and where available, the NWS or storm report for the event date showing the wind speed at the nearest station.
Can I fly a drone over my own house right after a storm? In most cases yes, if the aircraft is under 55 pounds and you are operating within recreational guidelines or hold a Part 107 certificate. Check the B4UFLY app before launching, because a severe storm event sometimes triggers temporary flight restrictions in the affected area. Keep the aircraft below 400 feet and well clear of any utility lines that the storm may have damaged.