Protecting your home from hail damage

We're ten days past a hail storm that caused millions of dollars in damage across Tulsa. The most expensive damage is to roof tops - but there's a way to prevent losses like that. <br/>News on

Friday, April 15th 2005, 10:42 am

By: News On 6

We're ten days past a hail storm that caused millions of dollars in damage across Tulsa. The most expensive damage is to roof tops - but there's a way to prevent losses like that.
News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says the roofing work has just begun. One Tulsa office had hail damage that totaled the roof. In most cases, people replace shingles with the kind they had. They can upgrade to a shingle that isn't hurt by hail.

Matthew Haught with State Farm Insurance climbs another roof to check - but he's pretty sure of what he'll find. Heâ€™s part of a State Farm Insurance disaster team, checking roof tops hit with hail last week. The National Weather Service reported damaging hail - golf ball size and larger - across central Tulsa County, from Jenks to Owasso.

Leta Warren's house was right in the middle of it. The Warren's roof is just one of 2,000 claims filed in the last 10 days with State Farm. The company believes some of the damage could have been prevented. Mike Gurley: â€œA lot of traditional roofing materials, in a hail storm, really don't do very well.â€

State Farm encourages homeowners to replace their roof with hail resistant shingles. They can take a pounding and won't come off - even in a 100 mile an hour wind. â€œOur experience with these shingles is that they perform as expected.â€

Replacing a standard roof with shingles that can withstand hail costs about 30% more. It can save you money on insurance, about 20% of the premium. Over time, the savings will outweigh the costs. It will take months to repair the damage from a hail storm that lasted less than 10 minutes. Every roofer in town is busy. Insurance adjusters are busy too. State Farm says half of all their homeowner claims in Oklahoma involve hail or wind. They believe it doesn't have to be that way - if homeowners would spend a little more to protect their roof.

Besides all these roof claims, 2,000 just for State Farm, even more cars were damaged. State Farm customers have filed 5,000 claims for damaged cars already.