Does it need someone tonight?
Pay emergency rates when water is coming into the house now and more is on the way: a tree or a large limb through the roof, a section of shingles or decking torn off with rain forecast, water running out of a ceiling light, or a ceiling bulging with trapped water. A wet ceiling can come down, and water near wiring is a reason to switch that circuit off at the panel before doing anything else.
A small stain that grows slowly during a long rain usually does not. Put a bucket under it, move what can be moved, and book a daytime visit at the normal rate, which also lets the roofer see the whole roof in daylight instead of one patch by flashlight.
Nobody can promise a crew on the roof during the storm itself. In high wind, lightning or a downpour, a responsible roofer will not send people up a wet slope, and will tell you so. In practice an emergency call often means the first safe window, when the wind drops or at first light.
Take the photographs before anything is cleaned up
Sudden damage from a storm, a falling tree or an impact is the kind of loss homeowners insurance is written for, and a claim runs on evidence. Before anything is mopped, moved or thrown out, photograph the ceilings, walls, floors and damaged belongings, and the roof from the ground, with the date on the files. Keep any pieces of shingle or flashing that came down. The crew priced here spends part of its visit doing the same from the roof side, recording the opening before the tarp covers it.
A standard homeowners policy puts a duty on you to protect the house from further harm once it is damaged, and when the loss itself is covered, the reasonable cost of that protection is normally paid along with it. That makes the emergency invoice a claim document: get it itemized, dated and addressed, and report the loss as soon as the house is safe.
A tarp, a patch kit and the after-hours rate
A crew called out at night does not know whether it is facing a few missing tabs or a hole a person could climb through, so it brings materials for both. The tarp is a 30 by 50 foot polyethylene sheet, much larger than the damage on purpose. It is run up and over the ridge so rain cannot get under its top edge, and its edges are wrapped around lumber battens that are nailed down, rather than nailed through the bare plastic, so wind cannot tear it loose. The battens are not a separate line in the estimate; expect a few boards on the invoice.
Smaller openings get a patch instead: a bundle of shingles, felt underlayment, aluminum flashing slid under the course above, and roof cement to seal the edges. That patch is meant to keep water out for weeks or months, not to match the rest of the roof. The material subtotal of $243 to $375 assumes both, so a job that needs only one costs less in materials.
Labor is the larger share of the bill. The crew rate is higher than for a scheduled repair because it covers nights, weekends and dropping other work at short notice. Steep, high or wet roofs take longer to work safely, and a tarp that shifts in the next storm can mean a second visit.
The real repair comes later, and costs extra
Polyethylene breaks down in sunlight and wind works at its edges, so a tarp is a holding measure for weeks, not seasons. Once the roof is dry and the weather settles, the permanent work can be scoped: new shingles, underlayment, flashing and any decking that soaked through, or a new roof if the damage is widespread. None of that is in the emergency figure on this page. For storm damage, the second job is priced at storm-damaged roof repair.
Get the permanent repair quoted on its own, ideally by more than one roofer, and do not feel bound to the crew that put the tarp on. If it turns into a full replacement, an itemized roof estimate shows what each quote should contain before you compare them. After a large storm, be wary of anyone who uses the emergency visit to get a signature on the full repair: pay for the tarp as a standalone job and read anything that commits you to more before signing it.