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HIGH POINT – Around 700 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by Sunday's tornadoes. And as people slowly dig out from beneath the rubble, insurance adjusters are pushed into high gear to go home-to-home assessing the damage.

Resident Ronal Williams' house was left mostly unscathed when a tornado ripped through High Point. Wednesday, an insurance adjuster came out to look at the damage he did have.

“The insurance adjuster seemed to think that we needed to replace the whole front of the house with shingles, but he suggested it might be a good idea to have a temporary repair,” Williams said.

The wind tore siding and blew shingles off the roof. Officials say that's typical in a storm like the one that came through Sunday.

“But it's siding, roofing, windows garage doors, personal property items like chairs, barbecues and things like that that may have gotten blown around,” Steve Haney, an adjuster from Barker Claim Services, said.

And while many homeowners are anxious to get their homes repaired, officials say before they do anything, it's important to take a lot of pictures.

“If you have severe damage where a repair is required, a temporary repair, that's usually OK to do that,” Haney said. “Take as many photographs as you can beforehand, before it gets covered up, before it gets repaired.”

Haney says because of the number of claims, it could be weeks or even a month before the repairs can start.

“The insurance companies are getting hit pretty hard right now with a lot of claims coming in, but they're going to try to move through these as quickly as possible as will the adjusters as well,” Haney said.

Officials say it's important to get several estimates before you start any work and your insurance adjuster can be a resource. They say they're knowledgeable on pricing and can help guide you through what seems reasonable.