This article was contributed by Shelter On Site, which provides on-site RV housing for displaced families and works directly with insurance adjusters to place people in temporary housing their policy already covers.
The First 72 Hours After a Gulf Storm
It usually starts the same way. The wind has died down, and you walk into a first floor a few blocks off the seawall to find an inch of gray water across the tile, the baseboards already dark, and the smell of the bay in a room where it does not belong. The kids need somewhere to sleep tonight. Work still expects you Monday. The claim has not even been filed yet. This is the stretch that decides how the next few months feel, and most of it comes down to a handful of practical moves made calmly.
Hour zero to twelve: safety, then documentation
Get everyone out of standing water and off any floor that has been soaked, storm surge and floodwater carry contamination you cannot see. Once people are safe, your phone is the most useful tool you own. Before you move or throw out anything, photograph and take video of every room, the water line on the walls, and the outside of the house. You are not cleaning up yet, you are building the record your adjuster will ask for.
Hour twelve to seventy-two: a place to stay, and how insurance fits in
Here is the part many Galveston-area families do not realize until they are standing in it. If a covered peril has made your home unlivable, your own policy may help pay for somewhere else to stay while repairs happen. Renters policies often include what is called Loss of Use coverage, and homeowner policies include Additional Living Expenses, or ALE. Both are meant to cover reasonable, documented temporary-housing costs and the extra living expenses that come with being displaced.
A few things are worth understanding up front. On the renter side, this coverage is usually tied to your personal-property limit, often a percentage in roughly the 20 to 40 percent range, or capped by a set period of time. And if you rent, this is your coverage to use, a landlord’s policy protects the building, not your displacement, so it is your own renters insurance that can pay for a place to stay. It is worth reading the exact language on whether renters insurance covers temporary housing before you assume you are on your own. Every policy differs, so confirm the specifics with your carrier and your adjuster rather than taking any general summary, including this one, as a promise of payment.
To keep a claim moving, do a few things in these three days:
- Call your insurer and open the claim, write down the claim number and your adjuster’s name.
- Ask directly whether your policy includes Loss of Use or ALE, and what it requires.
- Keep every receipt once you leave home, hotels, meals out, laundry, fuel, all of it.
- Save your damage photos and video in more than one place.
Staying close while home gets fixed
Hurricane season around the island can fill hotels fast, and a room across the causeway is hard on kids in school and a commute you still have to make. One option displaced families use is an on-site RV, delivered to your own driveway or a nearby lot, so you stay near the house, the job, and the same school pickup line while repairs happen. Shelter On Site coordinates that kind of placement with adjusters, and locally, an RV of that sort is exactly what Fireside RV Rental Galveston provides. It is one path among several, not the only one, but for a family that wants to stay put on the island, it is worth asking about.
The storm is the part you cannot control. The next 72 hours, mostly, you can.
Frequently asked questions
Does renters insurance cover temporary housing after a Gulf storm?
Many renters policies include Loss of Use coverage that can reimburse reasonable, documented temporary-housing costs when a covered peril leaves your home uninhabitable. Coverage is never guaranteed — check your specific policy and confirm with your adjuster, and note that flood damage is often handled under a separate flood policy.
Will my landlord’s insurance pay for my temporary housing?
No. A landlord’s policy covers the building, not your displacement. Your own renters policy’s Loss of Use coverage is what pays for temporary housing while repairs happen.
Guest article by Shelter On Site · Updated July 2026.