What to Do After a Storm Damages Your Trees

The storm has passed, there's a limb on the roof or a tree across the driveway, and your phone is in your hand. Before you call anyone or touch anything, run through this list. The first hour after storm damage is when people get hurt and claims get complicated.

First: the safety checks

• Assume any downed line is live. Stay away and call the utility before anything else happens near it.
• Stay out of rooms under a tree or limb resting on the roof; the load can shift.
• Don't walk under partially fallen trees or hung-up limbs. If it's caught in another tree, it is coming down eventually.
• Leave the chainsaw in the garage. Storm-bent wood is under spring tension, and cutting it wrong is how homeowners end up in emergency rooms.

Second: document everything

Photograph the damage from several angles before anything is moved: the tree, the structure, the yard. Wide shots and close-ups both. Your insurance adjuster will want them, and so will the tree crew quoting the work.

Third: make the two calls in the right order

If a structure is hit, call a tree company with emergency response first to get the load off safely and tarp-ready, then call your insurer. Getting weight off the structure quickly limits further damage, which insurers want too. Keep every invoice; emergency stabilization is typically claimable when a covered structure was hit.

Watch out for storm chasers

• Be wary of door-knockers who 'happened to be in the area' with a chainsaw in the truck.
• Ask for proof of insurance before anyone climbs or cuts; storm work is exactly when uninsured crews appear.
• Get the price in writing before work starts, even in an emergency. Reputable companies do this without being asked.