The storm passed. The water didn’t.

Valley storms come in sideways

The mid-valley’s storm season runs November through March: Pacific fronts stack up, the wind comes up the valley, and rain arrives at an angle that finds every failed flashing, tired shingle, and window seal on the west and south faces. The damage pattern is reliable — ceiling stains that appear a day after the storm, water tracking down inside walls, attic insulation quietly soaking under a roof leak too small to drip.

The repair starts with the water, not the roof: get the interior extracted and drying before the damage mushrooms, and get the entry point tarped or sealed so the next front doesn’t undo the work. Then the saturated materials are opened up, dried to measured targets, and rebuilt. Everything is documented for the insurance claim — storm losses are among the most straightforward to document when the photos start on day one.

What to do right after the storm

Catch active drips, move furniture out of the wet zone, and photograph everything before touching it — the stain map on the ceiling is evidence. Don’t climb on a wet roof; a tarp from inside the attic or a professional board-up is the safe move. Then call: the longer wet insulation and drywall sit, the more of them come out.