Conifers and broadleaved hardwoods are both aided by post-storm pruning when done correctly. Still, hardwoods, more so that conifers, are much improved by a pre-storm pruning that anticipates and removes weak spots like unbalanced heavily foliated/fruited limbs and v-shaped crotches in multiple trunks. Think of it as weight reduction and weak limb removal.
The pruning of a storm damaged conifer is different than pruning a broadleaf hardwood when damaged by high winds and water/ice weight. A typical healthy conifer tends to self-prune to a central stem and maintains limbs and branches that are properly spaced along the bole. Storm stem failure is common in conifers and means pruning after losing a part of the top to improve shape and increase vigor.
Comments
Can speak to the accuracy of uprooting being the most common problem after a storm – we lost between 12 and 14 thousand 20+ year old loblolly and slash pines to a tornado in Katrina – ones left that were topped would have been of no commercial value even if pruned. Blow-downs were hand-planted with tap roots intact, not nursery trees with cut tap roots. Many damaged trees had to be cut down as they could have been pine beetle targets after post-storm stress. I’m for cutting down topped pines and just starting over.