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Damaged roof or rain coming in: what to do in the first 48 hours

The right order after a storm: safety, whom to call, photos, temporary cover, notifying the insurer and invoices to keep, with what the law says and what is just common sense.

Topic
Repair
Reading
8 min
Reviewed
02/11/2026

The wind has taken tiles, a branch has fallen on the roof or water is dripping from the ceiling. In the first hours, what decides the outcome is not how fast the works start but the order of the steps: people first, then evidence, then temporary protection, and only at the end the repair. This guide brings together what Civil Protection, the Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho (ACT, the labour inspectorate), E-REDES (the electricity distribution network operator), the Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS, the health authority) and the insurance contract law say, and separates what is law from what is just common sense.

Updated on 2 November 2026. General information. It does not replace the instructions of the fire brigade, Civil Protection or your insurer.

The essentials

  • Do not climb onto the roof in rain or wind. The ACT points out that wet surfaces, broken tiles and strong wind greatly increase the risk of serious or fatal falls.
  • Danger to people: call 112. It is the free emergency number.
  • Fallen electricity cables: stay at least 10 metres away and tell E-REDES on 800 506 506 (free line, 24 hours).
  • Photograph everything before you touch anything, inside and outside, without putting yourself at risk.
  • Protect what you can and keep the invoices. Insurance law requires you to limit the damage and tells the insurer to repay reasonable costs incurred to do so.
  • Notify the insurer within the deadline in the policy. If the policy sets none, the law gives 8 days from when you learned of the loss.
  • Broken fibre-cement roof: do not cut, break or dry-sweep it. It may contain asbestos.

People first

The ACT leaflet on roof repairs after storms says this work carries a high risk of falling from height and that unstable structures, wet surfaces, broken tiles and strong wind significantly increase the risk. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work goes further: the best way to avoid falling from a roof is, first of all, not to go up.

In February 2026, according to the Lusa news agency, the national commander of the Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil (ANEPC, the national civil protection authority) asked for “the utmost care” in roof repairs and mentioned several hundred accidents from this kind of work recorded at Leiria hospital.

The table combines what the sources say with general common-sense guidance.

Situation What to do
Loose tiles or sheets threatening to fall into the street Keep people away from the area below and call 112
Inside ceiling bulging with water or with new cracks Leave that room and do not stand underneath
Electricity cable on the ground, fallen pole, open cabinet Stay 10 metres away and call 800 506 506
Roof structure broken or giving way Leave the house and call 112
Using a generator because of a power cut Outdoors only, at least 6 metres from the house (DGS)

On generators, the DGS (2 February 2026) adds that the carbon monoxide risk remains even with doors or windows open. In its rain and wind warnings, the ANEPC also asks people to watch out for falling branches and trees.

Whom to call

What for Contact
Danger to life, injuries, risk of structures falling 112
Fallen or damaged electricity cables, poles or cabinets E-REDES, 800 506 506 or balcaodigital.e-redes.pt
Tarpaulins, local help, shelter, information about your area Câmara municipal (town council), municipal civil protection service
Opening the claim Insurer or broker, through the channels in the policy

The INEM (national medical emergency institute) leaflet on 112 calls asks you to call only in an emergency and to give your name, the number you are calling from, the exact location with landmarks and the type of situation.

For anything that is not an emergency, the town council is the right door. Lei n.º 65/2007 (the municipal civil protection law) says every municipality has a municipal civil protection service (article 9) and that the mayor is the municipal civil protection authority (article 6). The service’s tasks include running shelters in case of a serious accident (article 10). After storm Kristin in 2026, councils such as Sertã offered tarpaulins and fitted them, and the Portuguese Red Cross handed out about 10,000 tarpaulins in coordination with Civil Protection, according to RTP. Ask your council what exists in your area.

If water is coming into the house

What follows is general common-sense guidance, not a legal rule:

  • If water is running near light fittings, sockets or the fuse board, switch off the main circuit breaker only if you can do it with a dry floor and dry hands. If you cannot, leave that area and get help.
  • Put buckets under the drips and move furniture and appliances away.
  • Do not pierce a plasterboard ceiling yourself if you do not know what is above it.
  • Before switching the power back on in a wet area, ask an electrician to check the installation.

Photograph before you touch anything

Photographs are used for the insurance and, when there is one, for public aid. In 2026, under the housing aid for storm Kristin, claims up to €5,000 were proven with a photograph or video of the damage, with no inspection (see the guide on the storm Kristin aid).

Do it like this:

  1. The house from a distance, with the whole roof, then each piece of damage up close.
  2. The inside: stained ceilings, wet furniture and appliances. Film the water coming in.
  3. The street: fallen trees, neighbouring roofs. It helps show that the storm caused it.
  4. Do not delete anything and make a copy of the files.

All of this from the ground, from windows or from the loft. Do not climb up to take a photo.

Temporary cover: what is reasonable

Article 126 of the insurance contract regime (Decreto-Lei n.º 72/2008) says that, when a loss occurs, the insured must use the means within their reach to prevent or limit the damage. Article 127 tells the insurer to repay those costs, as long as they are reasonable and proportionate, even if the measure does not work.

Reasonable Not reasonable
A tarpaulin fixed by a professional when the weather allows Climbing onto a wet or windy roof to put the tarpaulin on
Protecting the inside with plastic sheets, buckets, moving furniture Doing the permanent works straight away without giving the insurer a chance to see the damage
Asking the council for a tarpaulin and fitting, if it offers that Buying expensive materials that do not help contain the damage
Keeping the invoice for the tarpaulin and the labour Paying cash with no receipt at all

If a professional does go up, the ACT leaflet sets rules for whoever works on the roof: a harness with a secure anchor point, a helmet, non-slip footwear, never working alone and not working on tarpaulins or plastic sheets. Whenever possible, work from the inside, through the loft.

Notifying the insurer

Article 100 of the same decree-law requires you to report the loss within the deadline set in the contract or, if there is none, within the eight days after you learned of it. The report must explain the circumstances, the possible causes and the consequences. If you do not comply, the contract may provide for a reduced payment in line with the harm this causes the insurer (article 101).

In practice: notify straight away, even without a quote, and complete it later. The rest of the process (loss adjuster, excess, payment deadline, refusals) is in the guide on home insurance and the roof after a storm.

Keep everything

Open a folder, on paper or on your phone, with:

  • photos and videos, with the date;
  • invoices for the tarpaulin, the emergency call-out, the materials;
  • the claim number and the insurer’s emails;
  • the name and contact of whoever fitted the temporary cover;
  • repair quotes, with labour and materials shown separately.

If the roof is fibre-cement

According to the ACT, fibre-cement used in buildings up to 2005 very probably contained asbestos. The ACT also explains that fibre-cement has a strong bond and releases few fibres while it is in reasonable condition, but that any handling can release fibres. Do not cut, break or dry-sweep the fallen pieces. Keep children and pets away. Removal is work for an authorised company: see the guide on asbestos in the roof.

After the first 48 hours

  • Permit: repairing the roof as it was counts as maintenance works, usually exempt. The details are in the guide on roof works permits.
  • VAT: labour on the repair of a dwelling may pay 6%. See the guide on VAT on roof works.
  • Public aid: in 2026, the aid was created by specific legislation after the declaration of calamity, and housing applications closed on 7 April 2026. We do not know whether a future event will get the same aid. Follow the warnings of the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA, the national weather service): at orange and red, the IPMA says to follow the ANEPC’s guidance.

What we could not confirm

  • Official Portuguese guidance on water and electricity inside the home. The section on the circuit breaker is general guidance, not from an official source.
  • Changes made after 2008 to articles 100, 101, 126 and 127 of the insurance contract regime. We read the original text in the Diário da República (the official gazette).
  • That every council has tarpaulins or teams to fit them. We saw examples from 2026, not a rule.
  • The exact date of the RTP news items on Sertã and the Red Cross. The pages do not show it. They refer to early 2026, after Kristin.
  • Whether the suspension of the ACT’s prior authorisation for asbestos removal, created in 2026 for three months in the municipalities under calamity, was extended.

Sources (read on 2 November 2026)

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