Monsoon: Protecting your home after the storms

All week, we've seen the destruction from recent monsoon storms, trees toppled, crushed roofs as well. But if your home is damaged, what should you do first? Taylor words joins us live with a step by step checklist to protect your property and your wallet. We're back in that Sage Creek neighborhood in Avondale, where we showed you yesterday just all the widespread damage that they're dealing with. As you can see, almost every single home in this neighborhood is dealing with some kind of downed tree debris or a broken roof with a tarp on it. And neighborhoods like this one have people going door to door looking to make repairs after this week's storms. So I spoke with the experts about how to make sure you're hiring people you can trust. People all over the valley are still dealing with the effects of sunday and monday night storms like a disaster zone. I've done hundreds of roofs and I've been on thousands. I've never seen the amount of damage on heavy concrete roofs that I'm seeing. George is one of countless neighbors in Avondale trying to figure out what to do next. Never in my life. I thought this would happen to me. You know, experts say your first step is safety. Stay off wet or damaged roofs before cleaning. Take time stamped photos and videos of all damage. Then take immediate steps to protect your home from further rain. You have a duty under your insurance policy to mitigate your damages. That doesn't mean you have to actually do all the repairs or anything. Bored up broken windows, tarp roof breaches and save all receipts. Notify your insurance company as soon as possible. No estimate needed to start a claim. Beware of door to door contractors pressuring you to sign away your insurance rights. Never sign without doing your research first. You want to check reviews on them and make sure that they're reputable company and that you're specifically hiring them only for the emergency services part. Get three estimates and always check the Arizona registrar of contractors website to ensure they're fully licensed. Look on the website, make sure they're licensed, make sure licensed in Arizona quiz contractors before signing anything. Ask him what type of roof you have. Ask him what type of damage they're seeing. Don't be afraid to quiz somebody before you give them your business. Most importantly, take your time. Contractors can handle repairs, but they cannot legally negotiate your claim. Don't feel overly pressured to do it right that second. Just know that they can't legally represent you in the insurance claims process. The only people that can do that is a public adjuster. Now, when choosing someone to do your repairs, experts say, don't rush into anything. Don't want let anyone pressure you. And when in doubt, just use your best judgment and go with your gut. Live in Avondale, Taylor Wirtz, Fox 10 News.