Before anything else
Call 111 if anyone is hurt, power lines are down, or the roof has been torn open. If water is reaching light fittings, switch off at the switchboard, but only if you can do it without standing in water. Keep out of rooms with a bulging ceiling, and stay off the roof and the ladder.
What counts as a roofing emergency?
Anything letting weather into the house now, or likely to hurt someone: iron peeled back by wind, a branch through the roof, water running out of a light fitting, flashing flapping loose, or a chimney cracked after an earthquake.
Storms can do this to a whole district at once. NIWA records the August 2004 southerly lifting roofs right across the Wellington region.
A stain that's been growing for months isn't an emergency. It still needs a roof leak repair, just not tonight.
What does a roofer do on an emergency call?
Decides whether it's safe to go up
WorkSafe says even jobs that take minutes need a risk assessment and fall prevention. In strong wind, lightning or darkness, a good roofer may wait for a safer window.
Stops the water
Usually a heavy tarp fixed so the wind can't get under it, or a temporary patch over a hole or split.
Secures anything loose
Lifted sheets, ridging and flashings get refixed or taken off. You may be asked to keep people clear below, because the law expects falling tools and materials to be stopped, caught or fenced off.
Quotes the real repair separately
Once the roof is dry, they can see the full picture, photograph it and price the proper fix on its own.
What to put in your enquiry
Tell us the roof type (iron or longrun, decramastic, tiles, membrane, or not sure), whether the house is one storey or two, where the water is showing and what you can see from the ground. Add photos if you can take them safely, and say it's urgent.
We pass it to one checked roofer who covers your area and takes on urgent work. Nobody can promise a roofer is free mid-storm, and if no suitable roofer covers your area yet, we'll say so straight away.
Insurance and the make-safe
Let your insurer know early and hang on to every receipt, including the make-safe. A tree landing on the roof is the Insurance Council's go-to example of the sudden damage house insurance exists for.
Storm damage to the house is a private insurance claim, because the Natural Hazards Commission only covers your land after a storm. After an earthquake or landslide it covers the home too. See our guide to storm damage claims.
Ashfall and earthquakes
Volcanic ash is heavier than people expect, and Taranaki Emergency Management warns wet ash can collapse roofs. Auckland Emergency Management says not to clear ash off a roof while it's still falling. After an earthquake, keep everyone away from a damaged chimney and the rooms beneath it, and see our chimney removal page.
Who does what until the roof is dry
You can
- Power off at the switchboard if water is near fittings
- Buckets, towels, and moving belongings out of the wet
- Ringing your insurer and keeping every receipt
- Saying no to door-knockers offering a fix tonight
Leave to a roofer
- Anything on the roof or in a wet ceiling space
- Tarps, temporary patches and refixing loose iron
- Judging whether framing or a chimney is unsafe
What we'd do while we wait
We'd clear everyone out of the wet room, cut the power if water's near the lights, take photos and ring the insurer. Then we'd send the job in marked urgent and leave the roof alone, even if the rain eases. A make-safe now and a proper repair in daylight is the right order.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.