Snow Collapses Roof

Heavy wet snow that fell over the weekend in parts of the upper midwest caused roof collapses at a church hotel gas station and some homes.

Snow collapses roof.

Winter storms in minnesota and other sections of the upper midwest can dump large amounts of snow and ice on agricultural building roofs which can lead to a roof collapse. It can create ice dams and cause leaks that then can create hidden structural damage in the upper parts of a building. Snow roof collapses are rare thankfully this type of incident doesn t happen very often. A powerful storm has dumped mounds of snow across the upper midwest closing highways canceling flights and collapsing the roof of the minnesota vikings st.

The amount of snow or ice that is unsafe depends on the building design. The recent heavy snow can cause problems with roofs and that has been keeping crews busy around west michigan. In most cases excessive snow accumulation on a roof manifests itself in more subtle ways and causes gradual damage over time instead of a sudden calamity. In most instances snow is involved when it comes to a roof collapse but often one of the previous factors we just listed accompanies it.

When weather stations predict frigid temperatures and record snowfall concerns rise that roofs may not make it the full season but instead collapse under the strain of a surprising snow load. But not all coverage is the same. Typical homeowners insurance covers damage caused by severe winter storms and blizzards including roof collapses due to snow and ice. The ultimate damage snow can cause is roof collapse but that s not the only problem.

And in the case of roof collapse due to snow and ice insurers look at several variables before deciding if and how much to pay. Robert champagne principal of summit engineering says that the best way to prevent a roof collapse from snow is to be proactive. There are a lot of issues with snow on roofs nagy said. This is a rough estimate when no information is available to analyze a roof properly.

There were no reported serious injuries caused by the.