Hurricane Season on the Galveston Coast: How to Prep Your Home and What to Do After a Storm

Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and if you own property on the Galveston coast, you already know the drill emotionally — the cone graphics, the plywood runs, the waiting. What most homeowners don't have is a clear plan for the two moments that actually determine how a storm affects their finances: the preparation you do before landfall, and the first 72 hours after the damage.

Our team handles storm mitigation and restoration on the Galveston coast, and we've walked hundreds of properties after storms. Here's the guidance we give our own clients.

Before the season: harden the house

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) — the insurer of last resort that covers wind and hail for most coastal properties — publishes preparedness guidance that matches what we see in the field. The improvements that actually matter:

• Protect the openings. Install rated storm shutters, or at minimum pre-cut and label plywood for every window. Once a window fails, wind pressurizes the house and the roof is next.
• Reinforce the garage door. It's the largest, weakest opening on most homes and a common point of catastrophic failure. Bracing kits or a wind-rated door are cheap insurance.
• Check the roof connections. Roof straps and clips (hurricane ties) keep the roof attached to the walls. If your home predates modern windstorm construction standards, a retrofit assessment is worth every penny.
• Trim trees and clear gutters. TWIA notes post-storm tree removal can exceed $40,000 in severe cases. Do the $500 version in May instead.
• Know your certificates. In the designated coastal catastrophe area, repairs and improvements to the windstorm-resistant parts of your home (roof, windows, doors, structure) should be inspected and certified — the WPI-8/WPI-8-C certificate of compliance — to keep the property eligible for TWIA windstorm coverage. If a contractor working on the coast has never heard of a WPI-8, that tells you something. Any structural storm work we do in Galveston is built and documented to these standards.

Get your paperwork in shape too

• Verify you have both windstorm and flood coverage. Standard homeowners policies on the coast typically exclude wind (that's TWIA or a private windstorm policy) and nobody's homeowners policy covers flood — that's a separate NFIP or private flood policy, and new flood policies generally have a 30-day waiting period. Don't wait for a named storm.
• Build a home inventory now. Walk every room with your phone camera, narrate what you see, open closets and drawers. Store the video in the cloud or email it to someone inland. TWIA offers a free inventory worksheet; the format matters less than actually having it.
• Photograph the house in good condition — roof, siding, fences, every elevation. "Before" photos are the quiet hero of smooth claims.
• Save your policy numbers and your agent's contact info somewhere you can reach without power.

The first 72 hours after damage

What you do in the three days after a storm has an outsized effect on your safety, your claim, and your final repair bill.

Hours 0–24: Safety and stabilization

1. Don't re-enter until it's safe. Watch for gas smells, downed lines, and structural sagging. If the house took surge flooding, assume electrical hazards until the system is checked.
2. Document before you touch anything. Photograph and video every damaged area — wide shots and close-ups — before any cleanup or temporary repairs. Insurance guides for TWIA claims are emphatic on this point: the record of the full, untouched damage is your leverage.
3. Make temporary repairs to prevent further damage — and only that. Tarp the roof, board broken windows, extract standing water. Your policy actually requires reasonable mitigation, and TWIA guidance allows these emergency measures. Keep every receipt, and keep damaged materials (that ruined section of roofing, the soaked drywall sample) until the adjuster has seen them.

Hours 24–48: Start the claim

4. File promptly. Report the claim through the TWIA policyholder portal or at (800) 788-8247, option 1, or through your agent. Legally you generally have one year from the date of loss to file a TWIA claim — but early filers get adjusters, contractors, and materials first. After Hurricane Beryl, the Texas Department of Insurance publicized that exact one-year cutoff; don't test it.
5. Start a claim diary. Every call, adjuster name, email, and estimate — dated, in one notebook or note file. TWIA generally has about 60 days to make a coverage decision once your claim materials are in, and if you disagree with their settlement you have a limited window (60 days from their decision letter) to demand appraisal. Dates matter.

Hours 48–72: Get real eyes on the structure

6. Have a qualified builder assess the full scope — not just what's visible. Wind damage hides: lifted shingles that look fine from the ground, racked framing, wind-driven rain inside wall cavities that becomes a mold problem in three weeks. An adjuster's first pass frequently misses what a builder finds.
7. Beware the storm chasers. After every major storm, out-of-town crews sweep the coast offering fast roof deals for insurance checks. Many vanish before warranty season. Use contractors with a Texas footprint, real references, and — for coastal structural work — familiarity with windstorm certification.

Documentation tips that make or break claims

• Photograph serial numbers on damaged appliances and equipment.
• Match damage photos to your pre-storm inventory video — side-by-side is persuasive.
• Get repair estimates in writing, itemized, from licensed contractors before agreeing to any settlement figure.
• Never sign an assignment of your entire claim benefit to a contractor you just met.

Rebuild stronger, not just faster

Restoration done right is also mitigation for the next storm: rated shutters instead of plywood, a braced or upgraded garage door, roof-deck sealing, and repairs certified for windstorm compliance so your coverage stays intact. The storm after this one is coming; the rebuild is your chance to be ready for it.

If your Galveston-area home has storm damage — or you want it hardened before the next season — call Rae's Custom Home Services at (512) 336-9305 or email Sales@RaesCustomHomeServices.com for a free consultation. We handle storm mitigation, damage assessment, and full restoration on the Galveston coast, and we'll help you document the damage properly from day one.