By ALLEN MCQUISTON
Jemez Insurance Agency
Serving Los Alamos Since 1963

The sky is clear all morning. Then around 3 p.m. the clouds start stacking up dark over the mountains, the wind kicks up, and 10 minutes later it’s coming down sideways. Hail is ticking off the windows and the street out front is already running like a creek.

If you’ve spent a summer in northern New Mexico, you know the drill. The storms are loud and dramatic, and they can do real damage in about the time it takes to finish a cup of coffee.

Monsoon season officially started in mid-June and runs through September. The good news is that most of what protects your home happens before the storm, not during it.

Here’s where to put your attention while the sky’s still blue:

• Look up before you look anywhere else
• Your roof takes the first hit from hail and wind, so start there.
• Check for shingles that are missing, cracked, or lifted at the edges, and for tiles that have slipped out of place.
• Clean out your gutters and downspouts so water has somewhere to go. Clogged gutters spill over the side and run straight down your walls and foundation.
• If getting on the roof yourself isn’t realistic, a local roofer will usually take a look, and many will do it at no charge this time of year.
• Walk the yard and follow the water
• When it rains hard, water moves fast, and you want it moving away from the house.
• Notice where the runoff goes during a storm. If it pools against the foundation or runs toward the house, that’s worth fixing now.
• Clear leaves and debris away from the foundation and any drains so the water has a clear path.
• Trim branches that hang over the roof, and bring in or tie down loose items like patio furniture. In a strong gust, those turn into projectiles.

Get your home on record now, not after

• This is the step almost everyone skips, and it’s the one that matters most if something goes wrong.
• Walk through with your phone and take photos or video of every room, the exterior, and the big-ticket items.
• Save it somewhere that isn’t your house. Email it to yourself or put it in the cloud so it survives whatever happens at home.
• It takes about 15 minutes, and it’s the difference between remembering you owned something and being able to prove it.

If a storm does get you:

• Safety comes first. Don’t climb onto a wet or hail-battered roof during or right after a storm.
• Photograph any damage, with dates, before you start cleaning up.
• Do what you reasonably can to limit further damage, like tarping a leak, and keep your receipts.
• Leave damaged items where they are until they’ve been recorded.

The five-minute phone call:

A lot of storm questions don’t have a tidy answer you can look up. Whether hail on your roof, water that came in through a window, or a fence the wind took down is something you’d actually file on depends on your specific policy, and that varies from one home to the next.

That’s the kind of thing worth a quick call before the season gets going, rather than after, when you’re standing in a wet kitchen reading fine print. An agent who knows New Mexico summers can tell you in a few minutes what your coverage looks like and where the gaps are.

The Takeaway:

The storms are coming and that part you don’t control … what you do control is whether your roof, your gutters, and your records are ready for them.

Spend an afternoon on it now, while the sky’s still blue. The version of you at the window during the next big one will be glad you did.

For more helpful articles, visit thejemezagency.com.