Storm Damage

Severe weather conditions like strong winds, heavy rain and snow/ice accumulation can leave behind uprooted trees, broken branches, and trees left in unstable condition. We offer emergency tree service, working directly with your insurance or restoration company.

To help minimize damage in storms, evaluate your trees ahead of time for potential hazards.

Warning Signs

If your trees exhibit any of the following warning signs, they may be at risk:

• Wires in contact with tree branches. Trees may cause power interruptions in heavy winds and precipitation.
• Dead or partially attached limbs hung up in the higher branches that can fall and cause damage.
• Cracked stems or split branches that can cause tree failure when under stress.
• Hollow or decayed areas on the trunk or main limbs, or mushrooms growing from the bark indicate a decayed and weakened trunk.
• Peeling bark or gaping wounds in the trunk also indicate structural weakness.
• Fallen or uprooted trees exert pressure on other trees beneath them.
• Heaving soil at the tree base is a potential indicator of an unsound root system.

Clean-up Hazards

Sometimes no matter how much you prepare your trees for a storm, it is still necessary to clean up debris afterward. As a homeowner you may be tempted to perform the clean-up work yourself. But this can be a dangerous undertaking. In many cases homeowners should seek professional help especially if the clean-up job requires the use of a chain saw or other dangerous tools.

Beware of common clean-up hazards, listed below:

• Overhead or nearby electrical wires create potential hazards and limit the options for tree cutting. Homeowners should never work near power lines.
• Most chain saw work on large limbs or trees requires the experience of a trained operator to prevent injuries. Wood under tension (one or both ends of the fallen tree or branch pinned under other branches or debris) can react unpredictably. Releasing that tension with chain saw cuts is extremely dangerous and can seriously, or fatally, harm the chain saw operator.
• Uprooted root plates or root balls are unstable. Cutting the trunk of a fallen tree from an uprooted plate releases the pressure holding the root plate. The roots are still anchored and may have enough tension to pull the stump and root ball back into the hole. It could suddenly sit back into the root hole, trapping anything nearby underneath it.
• Slopes and uneven footing surfaces are dangerous while operating a chain saw.
• Many homeowners injured doing their own tree work were working alone at the time, significantly lengthening emergency response time and hospital stays. If you insist on doing your own post-storm cleanup, always have at least one other person working with you to call for help in case of injury.

But remember: Homeowners should never attempt post-storm tree work if it appears dangerous! It is always safer to hire a professional tree service company to take care of the post-storm work for you.

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