AfterTheStorm
A recovery companion that helps NYC households document damage, find vetted contractors, and navigate insurance and 311 claims within the 14-day filing windows.
NYC homeowners, co-op shareholders, and small landlords hit by severe storms
- Photo + voice damage log with timestamped GPS tags, exportable as an insurer-ready PDF
- Curated directory of NYC-licensed contractors with post-storm surge-protection (verified license, no upfront payment)
- Claim tracker that maps your damage to the right forms (NFIP, private, NYC HPD) with deadlines
- Neighborhood chat scoped to your ZIP so neighbours share contractor reviews and avoid storm-chaser scams
Tornado and severe-storm events hit NYC repeatedly each summer; the post-event chaos is where most families lose money because they don't document properly or hire unvetted contractors.
NYC had a record 32 tornadoes in 2024 (vs 7 in 2022) and six severe storms in 2024 per NOAA/NWS, and NYC launched an active post-flood recovery portal in Aug 2025 — clear, rising and event-driven demand tied to disaster declarations.New Yorkers have experienced tornadoes, an earthquake and an ... - CNN ↗Help Nyc Respond and Recover: Report Flood Damage and Submit 311 ... ↗New York hit by record number of large-scale climate disasters this year ↗
Existing players are B2B utilities (Stormhawk), contractor-side SaaS (Contractorfy), or generic portals (NYCEM, 311, FEMA) — no integrated consumer app bundles damage documentation, vetted-contractor matching and dual insurance+311 filing for NYC homeowners.Faster Storm Response & Recovery - stormhawk.app ↗How Contractorfy Works for Storm Restoration | Contractorfy ↗Recovery - NYCEM - NYC.gov ↗
NY public adjusters regularly charge 10–12.5% of claim recoveries (capped at 12.5% under 11 NYCRR 25.7), proving NYC homeowners readily pay a meaningful share of claim value for guided claim help — a built-in monetization analogue via referral fees, lead-gen to vetted contractors, or premium claim-coaching tiers.N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 11 § 25.7 - Maximum compensation ↗Public Adjuster Fees in New York: Costs, Caps & Rules | PublicAdjusterHQ ↗
NY is becoming a 'new tornado alley' with structural, climate-driven increases in severe convective storms — 4x jump in tornado count (7→32) over two years and growing severe-storm declarations, not a one-off spike.The new 'tornado alley': Why New York state's shifting climate is ... ↗Rare weather events like tornadoes in New York may be more common with ... ↗
Buildable but non-trivial: the '14-day filing window' framing is inaccurate (NY law just requires 'promptly' per policy terms), contractor vetting requires integrating NYC DOB license data and proof-of-insurance verification, and dual insurance-claim + 311 submission flows must navigate carrier-specific documentation rules; AI photo/video capture and form-filling are the easy parts.Storm Damage Insurance Claim Deadline in New York: Your Timeline ↗Help Nyc Respond and Recover: Report Flood Damage and Submit 311 ... ↗