Rising water is generally not covered by standard homeowner insurance; that needs a separate flood policy. Water coming down through a roof the August 10-11 derecho damaged usually is covered, because the wind was the covered peril. Same storm, same wet carpet, two completely different claims. Where the water started decides which one you have.
What the Weather Service Has Out Right Now
NWS Chicago issued a Flood Watch covering the Chicago metro from 10 PM Friday through Saturday morning, with the greatest risk south of Interstate 80, plus Flood Warnings for Thorn Creek at Thornton in Cook County and the Kankakee River at Shelby. Torrential rainfall, creeks out of their banks, and urban street flooding in areas with poor drainage. Check the current products at NWS Chicago before you act on anything here.
We're a roofing contractor, so let's be straight about the limits of what we do: if your problem is rising water, we are not the company you need, and your homeowner policy probably isn't the policy you need either. That's worth knowing tonight rather than three weeks into a denied claim.
Why This Weekend Is Different: Tuesday Broke Roofs That Look Fine
Here's the part specific to this week. The August 10-11 derecho put 70 to 100 mph straight-line winds across the same counties now under a flood watch. Wind at those speeds routinely breaks the seal strips holding shingles down without tearing the shingles off.
A roof in that condition looks completely normal from the ground and stays watertight through ordinary rain. Then the first torrential, wind-driven rain arrives and gets underneath the unsealed course. That's tonight. If you're seeing water for the first time this weekend and your roof was in the derecho's path, the damage almost certainly happened Tuesday, and Tuesday's wind is a covered peril with a claim deadline of August 11, 2027.
| Roof-Origin Water | Flood Water | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the water starts | Ceilings, attic, top of walls, around vents, chimneys, and skylights | Floor level, basement, window wells, floor drains, doorways |
| What caused it | Wind, hail, or debris damaged the roof, then rain came through the opening | Rainfall overwhelmed drainage, creeks, or sewers, and water rose from outside |
| Typical coverage | Usually covered by standard homeowner policies as storm damage, qualified by your policy | Generally excluded; requires a separate flood policy, commonly through the NFIP |
| Who handles it | A roofing contractor documents and repairs the damage; the claim runs on your homeowner policy | Water mitigation and restoration, and your flood carrier if you have one. This is not roofing work. |
| What to document | Interior stains with timestamps, attic moisture, the exterior damage in daylight, plus the storm date | Water depth marks, affected belongings, and the timeline of the rise |
Coverage descriptions are general. Your policy language controls, and only your carrier or a licensed public adjuster can interpret it. Both types can occur in the same storm; document them separately.
What to Do Tonight
Safety first, and this isn't boilerplate: stay out of standing water near outlets or electrical panels, and do not climb onto a wet roof for any reason. Roofs kill people in exactly these conditions.
Then document, because tonight's evidence is worth more than anything reconstructed later. Photograph ceiling stains, drips at light fixtures, wet insulation, streaks at the tops of walls, and any water at floor level, all with timestamps. If water is actively coming through the roof, put a container under it and photograph the container. Note the time it started.
If the roof is genuinely open to weather, emergency tarping runs 24 hours. Tarping is a separate decision from choosing who eventually repairs the roof, so don't let anyone bundle the two while you're standing in your hallway at 2 AM.
Get It Documented Once It's Light
Free Haag-certified inspection with photo documentation tied to the August 10-11 storm date. Same-day appointments are running across the affected suburbs.
Get My Free InspectionOr call (630) 414-9160
What Happens Monday
If the water came from the roof, this is a normal storm damage claim: get the roof documented, file with the photo report attached, meet the adjuster with your contractor present. Our claims process guide walks the whole sequence, and the claim vs out-of-pocket math tells you whether filing is even worth it.
If the water rose from the ground, your path runs through a water mitigation company and your flood carrier if you have one. We'll tell you that on the phone rather than sending an inspector to bill a claim that isn't ours to work. And if it turns out to be both, which is common, the two get documented separately because they're separate claims.
One case worth flagging: basement water that actually starts at the roofline. Gutters clogged or downspouts damaged in the derecho dump water against your foundation instead of carrying it away. The symptom looks like flooding; the cause is roof drainage, and the coverage question changes accordingly.
Chicago Storm Pros is a service of C&N Construction, Inc. (cnroofs.com). Reviews, project counts, certifications, and ratings shown here reflect C&N Construction's work.