Storm damage and your roof in Des Moines: what actually matters here
Des Moines roofing still runs on the shadow of one storm. The August 2020 Corn Belt derecho pushed 100-plus mph straight-line winds through every neighborhood in the city, and the $1.6 billion in statewide claims it generated is still working its way through insurance pricing five years later. That is the backdrop a homeowner here needs, on top of a hail pattern that shows up on radar dozens of times a year and a city with a real amount of older brick and masonry housing that doesn't behave like a standard wood-frame roof in a wind event. Here is what a Des Moines homeowner actually needs to know before calling anyone.
The 2020 derecho is still moving your insurance bill, not just history
The August 2020 Corn Belt derecho drove straight-line winds over 100 mph through Des Moines and the surrounding corridor, generating roughly $1.6 billion in statewide property and roofing claims. As a direct consequence, Iowa homeowner insurance premiums rose 19 percent in 2025 — the third-highest rate increase of any state that year.
That matters for a roof decision today because insurers are still pricing this market off that event. A roof replacement that qualifies for a wind-resistance or impact-resistance discount is worth pursuing specifically because carriers here have real, recent loss data driving how they underwrite, not a hypothetical risk model.
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Hail shows up on radar here more often than most homeowners assume
Polk County, where Des Moines sits, averages more than 40 hail days a year, and radar has detected hail over the city on 108 separate occasions in a recent trailing 12-month period. That is a frequency most homeowners underestimate until they're filing a second claim in the same few years, not a first.
The practical upshot is that a roof here rarely fails from one dramatic event. It's more often a derecho-grade wind event layered on top of years of smaller hail hits, and a contractor doing a real inspection should be checking for cumulative granule loss and mat fatigue, not just obvious storm damage from the most recent event.
Beaverdale's brick homes and Sherman Hill's older stock are a different repair
Beaverdale, developed mostly between 1920 and 1940, is known locally for “Beaverdale Brick” — Tudor Revival-influenced brick homes with steeper roof pitches than a typical postwar ranch. Sherman Hill, one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in the city and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, carries Victorian, Queen Anne and Second Empire homes dating to the 1880s.
Brick and masonry construction responds to a derecho-grade wind event differently than a wood-frame home — chimneys, parapets and masonry-to-roof transitions are where wind damage actually concentrates, not the open field of shingle a generic inspection focuses on. If your home is in either neighborhood, make sure whoever inspects it is actually looking at those transitions, not just walking the roof deck.
The permit runs through the city's Permit and Development Center
Des Moines roofing permits are issued through the city's Permit and Development Center at 1200 Locust Street, reachable at (515) 283-4200 or permits@dmgov.org. The center publishes an updated fee schedule periodically — it's worth pulling the current version or calling directly rather than accepting a contractor's quoted number as the published rate, since these schedules are revised more often than most homeowners expect.
ZIP codes we cover in Des Moines
50301, 50302, 50303, 50304, 50305, 50306, 50307, 50308, 50309, 50310, 50311, 50312, 50313, 50314, 50315, 50316, 50317, 50318, 50319, 50320, 50321
Common questions
Is the 2020 derecho still relevant, or is that old news?
Still relevant, mainly through insurance. The storm generated about $1.6 billion in statewide claims, and Iowa premiums rose 19 percent in 2025 as a direct result — the third-highest increase of any state that year. A roof that qualifies for a wind- or impact-resistance discount is worth pursuing because carriers here are pricing off real, recent loss data.
How often does hail actually hit Des Moines?
More than most people assume. Polk County averages 40-plus hail days a year, and radar detected hail over the city on 108 occasions in a recent 12-month stretch. Roofs here more often fail from cumulative hits over several years than from one dramatic event.
I have an older brick home in Beaverdale or Sherman Hill. Does storm damage look different?
Yes. Brick and masonry construction concentrates wind damage at chimneys, parapets and masonry-to-roof transitions rather than across the open shingle field a generic inspection checks. Make sure your inspector is actually looking at those spots, especially after a high-wind event.
What does a roof replacement cost in Des Moines?
Plan on roughly $8,000 to $18,000 for a typical metro home, with a 2,000-square-foot architectural shingle roof (tear-off included) commonly landing around $8,300 to $12,200. Asphalt runs about $4 to $6 a square foot installed.
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