August 4, 2026 · ACI Adjustment Group
Verified event facts
Each fact below is confirmed by the authoritative source cited later in this report — see "About this report" for how anything not confirmed is handled.
Event type: damaging wind
Issuing authority: NWS Binghamton NY
Warning identifier: /O.EXP.KBGM.SV.W.0133.000000T0000Z-260727T1745Z/
State: PA
Affected county: Lackawanna, Luzerne
About Lackawanna County
Lackawanna County sits in the Ridge-and-Valley province of northeastern Pennsylvania, in the Lackawanna Valley. The Lackawanna River runs the length of the valley through Scranton and the surrounding boroughs.
Scranton and its surrounding boroughs carry dense, older housing stock from the region's coal-mining era, with newer development in the outlying townships.
Northeastern Pennsylvania's valley terrain can funnel and intensify wind and storm activity along the valley floor, and the region sees both summer severe thunderstorms and winter nor'easters.
Historical frequency data for damaging wind events in Lackawanna County was not available for this report.
What property owners should inspect
Wind damage often starts at the edges and connections of a roof system — the fascia, soffit, and the seal strip along shingle edges — before it is visible as a missing shingle in the field of the roof. A thorough inspection checks every edge and every roof plane, not just the areas with obvious missing material.
Because partial wind loss is more often disputed than a total loss, photograph the full extent of lifted or creased shingles even where they have not yet blown off, along with any trees or limbs that contacted the structure and the specific point of contact.
The roof for lifted, creased, or missing shingles and failed seals.
Fascia, soffit, gutters, and flashing for separation or loss.
Windows, doors, siding, and outbuildings for wind and debris impact.
Trees and limbs that contacted the structure.
Pennsylvania insurance claims guidance for this type of damage
Pennsylvania sets specific periods for handling a property insurance claim by regulation (31 Pa. Code Chapter 146), not left entirely to the insurer. An insurer must acknowledge a claim within 10 working days of notice (§ 146.5). It must complete its investigation within 30 days, and if it cannot, it must provide a written explanation for the delay and a decision-date estimate every 45 days after that (§ 146.6). Once you have submitted properly executed proofs of loss, the insurer has 15 working days to advise you of acceptance or denial (§ 146.7(a)(1)), and a denial must be in writing and reference the specific policy provisions relied on.
None of that fixes how much you are paid, what your policy covers, or how long payment takes once a claim is accepted — those depend on your specific policy, not on Chapter 146.
Separately, § 146.7(e) requires written notice before a statute of limitations or a contractual time limit in your policy expires — 30 days in advance if you are a first-party claimant, 60 days if you are a third-party claimant. If you receive one of these notices, the date on it is the deadline to act on, not the date of your original loss.
The overall duration of a claim is not fixed by any of this. A claim with a clear cause and an agreed scope of damage typically resolves faster than a disputed one, and Chapter 146 does not cap how long a disputed claim can take from report to resolution.
The regulation itself is published by the Commonwealth at pacodeandbulletin.gov under Title 31, Chapter 146. If you believe an insurer has not met these requirements on your Pennsylvania claim, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department accepts consumer complaints.
A common documentation gap on wind claims is not photographing fascia, soffit, and flashing separation alongside the more obvious shingle damage — partial wind loss is more often disputed than total loss, and the file needs the full extent documented.
What to do in the first 24 hours
Do not re-enter until local authorities confirm the structure is safe.
Document everything before any cleanup begins — photograph and video the exterior, each affected room, and the full extent of the damage.
Keep damaged materials and contents where it is safe to do so until they can be inspected.
Keep receipts for any emergency mitigation work (pumping, drying, tarping, board-up).
Contact your insurance company to report the loss, and write down the claim number and every adjuster's name and contact information.
How ACI Adjustment Group can help
ACI Adjustment Group is a licensed public adjusting firm in Pennsylvania that represents property and business owners — never the insurance company. When a claim is denied, underpaid, or built on a single insurer inspection, ACI's licensed public adjusters independently document the loss, read the policy, and re-present the claim with the evidence behind it.
ACI Adjustment Group offers a free inspection of your damage and a straightforward explanation of your options. If your Pennsylvania property was damaged in this event, call ACI Adjustment Group at 1-800-809-4302.
From that first inspection through negotiating with the insurance company, ACI's licensed public adjusters handle the claim process directly, so you are not managing it alone on top of repairing or replacing what was damaged. There is no cost or obligation to have your damage reviewed.
Sources and updates
Authoritative source: https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.c2189fe38b4c4e42f8a400363f4b84844f266be5.001.1
Last updated (UTC): 2026-08-04T11:56:14Z
About this report
Verified: every fact in the event-facts list above comes from an authoritative source, with the source links provided.
Not confirmed: measurements or details not reported by an authoritative source (for example, rainfall totals where none were issued) are omitted from this report rather than estimated.
Related resources
For more on damaging wind and other property claims affecting Lackawanna County, see Pennsylvania Public Adjusters, Storm & Wind Claims and Free Pennsylvania Claim Guides below.