Wind and fallen trees
Limbs and trunks puncture roofs and break windows, and rain enters through the opening. Homeowners policies commonly respond to wind damage differently from flood, so the cause matters when you file.
Urgent? Phones answered 24/7
Storm Damage Restoration in Portland: Atmospheric Rivers, Wind and Ice
Water cleanup and drying after winter storms push rain through roofs, walls and windows or drop limbs on Portland houses.
- Phones answered 24/7
- Basements, roofs and old pipes
- Ask for the licence number
Get a fast quote
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Storm Damage
Storm Damage Restoration: what it covers
Quick answer
Storm damage is water that came in because wind, rain or ice broke the building's shell. Portland Water Damage Restoration answers 24/7 for Portland and Multnomah County. A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, removes the water, dries the structure and tells you which repair trades, such as a roofer, you need.
Portland storms come in three flavors. The most common are atmospheric rivers: long, warm, moisture-heavy bands of rain that arrive in winter and soak the metro for days. Wind storms follow the same tracks and drop limbs and whole trees on roofs. And once in a long while a cold snap and Pacific moisture combine in an ice storm, as in January 2024, when freezing rain and nearly five days of subfreezing temperatures coated the region.
What these have in common is that the first failure is rarely dramatic. A branch breaks a few shingles. A gust lifts a piece of flashing. Wind pushes rain sideways under a window sill. The water that follows is slow and out of sight, running down a rafter or into a wall cavity until a ceiling stains or a floor softens. By then it has had hours or days to travel.
Storm restoration is the water side of that damage: finding where rain got in, removing standing water, drying insulation, framing and drywall and writing down what was affected. Closing the opening itself is a roofer's, glazier's or carpenter's job, and the technician helps you work out which of those you need first, because drying cannot finish while rain keeps coming in.
- Service area
- Portland & Multnomah County
- Availability
- Phones answered 24/7, emergencies first
- Phone
- (833) 490-5225
Warning signs
Signs you need storm damage restoration
Never touch a downed power line or anything in contact with one, and stay off a wet or icy roof. If a ceiling is bulging with water, keep clear of it. Phone (833) 490-5225 from a safe place.
- Water stains on a ceiling that appear or spread during or after a storm
- Daylight or wet insulation visible in the attic near a damaged section of roof
- Water on a window sill or running down the inside of an exterior wall
- A tree limb resting on the roof or against a wall
- A sump pump that stopped when the power went out
- Soggy carpet at an exterior door where rain was driven under it
- Shingles, ridge caps or flashing found in the yard
- A damp, earthy smell in an upstairs closet under the roof
Cost
How much does storm damage restoration cost in Portland?
The price follows how much water got in, where it traveled and what it soaked. We print no dollar range, because none we could source describes a Portland job.
| Job | Typical range | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Water in attic or ceiling | Quoted on site | Wet insulation and sagging drywall are removed and dried |
| Water on floors | Measured on site | Depends on area, flooring type and how long it sat |
| Roof, window or tree repair | Separate trade | Roofers, glaziers and tree services quote their own work |
Your price is confirmed on site, and put in writing, before work begins.
Options
Types and options for storm damage restoration
Atmospheric river rain
Days of steady rain find every weak point at once, from aging flashing to clogged gutters to grade that slopes toward the house. Water often appears hours after the worst of the rain.
Ice and freeze events
Ice storms bring heavy limbs, power loss and burst pipes during thaw. See burst pipe water damage and frozen pipe water damage.
Need storm damage restoration today?
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
What should you do right after a storm damages the roof?
Stay off the roof, protect belongings below the leak, photograph the damage from the ground and the inside, and call. If a limb has fallen, keep away from any lines. A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you can arrange a roofer or tree service in parallel.
Do not climb up in wet or icy conditions. A roofer can tarp a damaged section, and many keep storm lists during busy periods, so call early.
Inside, move furniture, lift rugs, and put buckets under drips. Poke a small hole in a bulging ceiling only if you can do so safely from a distance, because trapped water can fall without warning.
- Photograph damage from the ground and from inside
- Protect furniture and electronics below the leak
- Put buckets under drips and empty them
- Call a roofer or tree service for the exterior
How common are big storms in the Portland area?
Winter atmospheric rivers are routine, with downtown Portland averaging 44.07 inches of rain a year and more than six inches in each of November, December and January. Ice storms are rare, and the January 2024 event stands out. Individual storms vary a great deal from year to year.
A March 2026 atmospheric river closed roads in the city, a reminder that heavy storms are not limited to deep winter. The details of each storm differ, and we make no prediction about the next one.
What does hold true is the seasonal pattern: the wet months run from about October to March, and most of the year's water-related damage in this region falls in that window.
What does insurance usually say about storm damage?
Wind and fallen-tree damage is commonly handled differently from flood and landslide, which are usually excluded from homeowners policies in Oregon. Your insurer decides under your own policy. Photographs of the cause and the water, and the moisture log, are the evidence that helps.
Keep the damaged materials until the adjuster has seen them, unless they are a safety hazard. Ask whether the policy has a separate wind or storm deductible, because some do.
If a neighbor's tree fell on your house, notes from both sides about the cause can help.
What does a technician look for after a storm?
The technician looks for the entry point, the path the water took and every material it wet: attic insulation, ceiling drywall, wall cavities, subfloor and flooring. A thermal camera and moisture meters find water that is not visible, and each reading is logged to support your claim.
Storm water rarely stays where it enters. A leak at a roof valley can soak insulation across a whole bedroom ceiling, and wind-driven rain through a window can run down inside the wall to the floor plate.
The technician starts at the stain but does not stop there, and checks the rooms around it.
What if a tree has fallen on the house?
Keep everyone out of the damaged part of the house until it has been checked, stay clear of any wires, and call your insurer and a tree service. Once the structure is safe, a restoration crew can remove water from the rooms below the damage and dry the area.
A tree on a roof loads the framing and can crack rafters, so ceilings under it may be unsafe. Do not stand under a sagging ceiling to look at it.
A tree service removes the tree, a roofer or carpenter closes the opening, and then the drying finishes the job. Sequence matters, and the technician helps you plan it.
Our process
How our storm damage restoration visit works
Make it safe
The technician checks for sagging ceilings, downed lines and wet electrics before entering. If a tree is on the roof, the structure is assessed first.
Contain the intrusion
Buckets, plastic sheeting and moved furniture limit further damage. Crews can advise on temporary protection, and a roofer or carpenter does the exterior closure.
Extract and trace
Water is removed from floors, and moisture meters and a thermal camera map wet insulation, drywall and framing, including in the attic.
Remove and dry
Saturated insulation and sagging drywall are cut out so the structure can dry. Air movers and dehumidifiers run in closed rooms.
Record for claims
Photographs, readings and a scope go to you, which supports a claim for wind or fallen-tree damage under your own policy.
Multnomah County
Why storm damage restoration is different in Portland metro
Portland's hillside neighborhoods and wooded older streets mean many roofs sit under mature trees. After a wind storm, limbs and needles load gutters and roofs, and the first rain after the wind finds the damage.
Power loss often follows a storm, and a sump pump without power is a basement flood waiting to happen. The January 2024 ice storm left about 633,000 people in Multnomah County without power at the peak, according to a regional magazine, which is a large number of sump pumps in the dark.
Beyond the city, storms hit differently depending on the setting. Wooded hillside streets in Lake Oswego and West Linn, open subdivisions in Hillsboro and Happy Valley and the older eastside bungalows in Portland all take the same rain, but the entry points differ, and a technician reads the building rather than assuming.
Atmospheric rivers are often described in terms of how much water they carry, not how hard the wind blows. For a homeowner the practical effect is days of steady rain with little chance for the house to dry between bands, so a small leak has time to spread.
Where we work
Storm Damage Restoration across Multnomah County
- Storm Damage in Portland
- Storm Damage in Beaverton
- Storm Damage in Lake Oswego
- Storm Damage in Marylhurst
- Storm Damage in Happy Valley
- Storm Damage in Vancouver
- Storm Damage in Milwaukie
- Storm Damage in Gladstone
- Storm Damage in Clackamas
- Storm Damage in West Linn
- Storm Damage in Tualatin
- Storm Damage in Fairview
- Storm Damage in Gresham
- Storm Damage in Tigard
- Storm Damage in Damascus
- Storm Damage in Hillsboro
- Storm Damage in Oregon City
- Storm Damage in Camas
- Storm Damage in Troutdale
- Storm Damage in Sherwood
- Storm Damage in Aloha
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Related
Related services
Roof Leak Water Damage
Drying attics, ceilings and walls after a roof leak, and how to tell a leak from condensation in a long Portland wet season.
Ceiling Water Damage
Dealing with stained, bulging or dripping ceilings in Portland houses and apartments, from roof leaks to upstairs plumbing.
Flood Damage Cleanup
Removing river, creek and storm flood water, silt and ruined materials from homes near the Willamette, Columbia and Johnson Creek.
Structural Drying and Dehumidification
How air movers and dehumidifiers dry Portland houses in a cool, humid climate, and how readings decide when the job is finished.
Guides
Read before you book
What the January 2024 Freeze Taught Portland About Burst Pipes
During the January 2024 ice storm, Portland firefighters received more than 1,000 potential water-emergency calls between January 13 and 17, mostly burst pipes, with calls peaking as pipes thawed.
Flood Risk Around Portland: Johnson Creek, the Willamette and the Columbia Levees
The Portland area has a real flood record: the Willamette crested at 28.6 feet in Portland in February 1996, Johnson Creek reached about 15.3 feet in 2015, and the Columbia-side levees have an open certification question.
Wet Winters, Slopes and Landslides in Portland: What Homeowners Should Know
The state geology agency estimates about 20 landslides a year in Portland, at least 1,700 between 1928 and 2016, concentrated on West Hills slopes in wet winters.
FAQ
Storm Damage Restoration FAQs
Do you repair roofs?
No. A roofer repairs or replaces roofing. We remove water and dry the structure, and tell you early when the roof needs to be handled first.
Is wind-driven rain through a window covered?
That depends on the policy, and your insurer decides. Photographs of the window, the water path and any storm warnings help.
Can wet attic insulation be dried?
Sometimes loose-fill can be dried, but soaked batts and compressed insulation are usually removed. The technician checks the readings.
What if the storm knocked out power?
Say so on the call. Crews may need generators or a different plan, and it affects the timing and safety of equipment.
Should I call my insurer first?
Call both. Start the claim, and do not wait to protect the house. Ask what your policy expects.