txhailleads guide

How to find hail-damaged roofs in Texas that haven't been replaced yet

Short answer: match the storm's radar hail swath to the homes underneath it, then remove every home that has filed a re-roof permit since the storm. What is left is the list of roofs that were hit and have not been fixed.

1. Get the hail swath

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center publishes spotter reports of hail size after every storm. NOAA's MRMS radar system estimates the largest hail at each location as a continuous swath (MESH, Maximum Estimated Size of Hail). Spotter reports tell you a storm was real; the radar swath tells you where it fell.

2. Put homes inside it

County appraisal districts publish every parcel with a location. Every home whose parcel falls inside the swath, at a hail size that damages shingles (1 inch and up), is a candidate.

3. Remove the roofs already replaced

Most Texas cities require a building permit to replace a roof, and those permits are public records. A home in the swath with a re-roof permit filed after the storm is already being worked. Remove it. The homes left have no record of a new roof.

4. Work it while claims are still open

Most insurers set a deadline to file a claim, and the Texas Department of Insurance notes that some policies allow only one year. A home hit last month is a live conversation. A home hit two years ago usually is not.

What this method cannot tell you

Radar hail size is an estimate, not a measurement on a specific roof, so inspect before you pitch a claim. Permits are filed after work is sold, so the newest jobs can lag by days or weeks. Unincorporated areas often have no permit requirement, so a missing permit there says less. And a home can have hail damage the owner has chosen not to fix.

This fall's storms, in numbers

Counts as of September 23, 2026, updated daily.