The unusual direction of strong wind-driven rains overnight Tuesday made for heavy business for roofers and other repair contractors yesterday as damage piled up from the southwesterly storm.

"I been answering the phone with two hands," said Steve Maero, president and owner of Rainbow Roof Maintenance Co. Inc. "I got business all the way into the second quarter of next year. My Christmas is made."

Roofers said Hawai'i homes and businesses are more often buffeted by strong trade wind storms from the north. But horizontal rains pushed by southwest wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour overnight Tuesday exposed weaknesses in buildings, trees and other property not normally tested.

"This is really the first southwesterly storm we've had in ages," said Guy Akasaki, president and CEO of Commercial Roofing + Waterproofing Hawai'i Inc. "Things that do not leak are leaking now. It's been kinda nuts."

Some in the roof repair business said heavy rains a few weeks ago — the first major saturation since 42 consecutive days of rain early last year, according to one contractor — created a greater flood of repair calls than Tuesday's overnight drenching because many people had been ignoring long-standing leak problems.

But wind gusts, which registered 40 miles per hour or higher on all islands, created more widespread damage.

Keith Lee, owner of C K Roofing Co., responded to a Foster Village home that had its second-story patio flipped upside down. "That's bad," he said.

No assessments of total damage or economic impact from this storm have been made by state officials. But the effects should be relatively light compared with Hawai'i's most recent disasters — the Oct. 15, 2006 earthquakes off the Big Island and the 42 days of rain in March and April 2006.

The earthquakes damaged an estimated 2,000 homes as well as numerous private businesses and public facilities from highways to harbors. The Structural Engineers Association of Hawai'i earlier this year estimated physical damage costs at $113 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved $9.3 million in aid for 2,564 assistance applications.

The quake also triggered an electrical blackout for all of O'ahu. There was no economic cost projection related to the O'ahu power outage, which happened on a Sunday, but a 1991 Island-wide blackout on a Tuesday cost $75 million in economic losses.

During the 42-day spell of rain last year, seven people were killed on Kaua'i when the Kaloko Dam failed. Hawai'i secured $13.5 million in federal recovery aid for Kaua'i and O'ahu. The state assessed damage at $20 million.

John Schapperle, president and chief operating officer of Island Insurance Cos., said the recent wind and rain produced about a tripling of normal claim filings to about 50 yesterday, and that more are expected over the next couple of days.

Most claim damages pertain to homes and businesses, plus some automobiles.

"Falling trees and that kind of thing," Schapperle said. "It's not a catastrophe by any means."

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.