What should you do when a storm damages a tree?
By Andy's PGM ·
If a storm has left a limb hanging over the driveway or a tree across the fence, these are the steps to take, in order.
1. Keep everyone back
Split and hanging limbs (we call them hangers) can stay up for hours or days and then drop with no warning. Keep people, kids and pets out from under them. Don’t park under them.
2. Look for power lines
If a tree or limb is touching a power line, or you can’t tell whether it is, stay well away and call the power company. Don’t try to move anything near a line, and don’t let anyone else try.
3. Take pictures
From a safe spot, take photos of the damage: the tree, anything it hit, and the whole yard. If you’re going to talk to your insurance company, you’ll want photos from before any work starts.
4. Don’t grab the chainsaw
It’s tempting to start cutting yourself, but storm-damaged wood is under strain in ways that aren’t obvious. A limb pinned under another limb can spring loose when it’s cut. Ladders and chainsaws don’t mix. This is the work to hand off.
5. Call someone with the right equipment
Hangers high in a tree are a bucket-truck job. The photo at the top of this post is an oak with one big limb split right down the middle, hanging toward the house. We took it down from the bucket, a section at a time, so nothing landed on the roof. You can watch a clip of that job on our storm cleanup page.
What the cleanup should look like
When the work is done, the yard should look like the storm never happened, at least as far as the tree goes. That means:
- Hanging and broken limbs taken down
- Everything on the ground cut up and hauled away
- The roof, gutters, lawn and driveway picked up
Before the next storm
A lot of storm damage starts with dead wood and weak limbs that were there before the wind showed up. A good trim before storm season takes care of most of it. Here’s when to trim before hurricane season.
If a storm has left you with a mess, call 941-504-8190.
