Storm Cleanup

1. Major or minor injuries on you or a family member - seek medical help right away or treat with a first aid kit if manageable enough.


2. Utility damage - beware of downed power lines, broken gas lines, or appliances that may cause electrocution. Stay at least 5 feet away from damaged power lines.
   
   Don't try to reach for that fallen branch on that wire because non-direct contact doesn't make you safe from electrocution.
   
   If the power is out and you need to use a grill or generator, place it outside to avoid carbon monoxide buildup in your home.
   


3. Property damage - assess your home for sturdiness if you were hit by a fallen tree branch or pole. Creaking and shifting are indicators that parts are moving and that you should evacuate immediately.
   
   If your home or vehicle has incurred wind or storm damage from a fallen tree branch or trunk, take a lot of pictures as you will need it for insurance claim purposes later. Insurance adjusters will require these pictures from before the storm damage cleanup was done.
   
   Never start a vehicle with an engine that was flooded or hit by debris. Have it assessed by a mechanic first.
   


4. Perimeter - make sure there are no fallen branches looming dangerously on your property.
   
   No matter how small something seems to be, objects become heavier with velocity. Stay out of its way.
   
   Unfortunately, trees are exposed to the wrath of storms. The potential danger these pose is the same during and after the storm.
   
   If you see a an attached or fallen branch that's very tense and bent among the mangled mess, walk away and seek debris removal help from a professional. That object has the potential to hurt you if it snaps, ricochets off your face, or falls on your head.
   
   There's so much energy stored in compressed tree limbs and trunks that can be released suddenly and violently.
   
   The solution is to call an experienced company like Rochester Trees right away for emergency tree debris removal services.
   


5. Some people drive around the neighborhood surveying storm damage, or travel to a loved one's place to seek or provide help.

It is inevitable that after a storm (especially a major one), we will receive many calls asking for storm damage cleanup. However, we will never risk safety on the job for speed, especially if it’s an emergency and has to be done in rainy, icy, or windy conditions.

Rochester Trees work methodically to make sure all tasks are done with the least risk possible. We are equipped with safety gear according to OSHA standards, and have well-maintained equipment.

We will take care of that driveway, road, parking lot, or yard that’s blocked off by fallen branches and trees.

When cleaning up blown over and uprooted trees, we will assess all potential hazards. We will then whittle down any weight we can before dealing with the rest of the trunk to make it safer.

If the tree is on the ground, we will clear off the foliage from the top down and remove any tripping hazards.

We will identify the lean and load of the tree, tie it if necessary, and release pressure points slowly to avoid splits and cracks.

If the tree is leaning on another tree, we will apply a special notch that allows the trunk to fold in on itself. It can be done several times until it is untangled from the other tree. Then we can chop it down to manageable pieces to get it out of your hair.

If only the canopy was affected, we will assess it for rot or decay to decide if it needs to be taken down or if it can stay. You’d want to get rid of potential danger if another storm passes through.

For trees that are strong enough to stay, we will perform corrective pruning to make sure that they don’t become threats to your home or business. We will take care of cracked stems, fallen branches, split fork branches, partially attached limbs, codominant trunks, and more.

We will restore them to their former beauty and value so that it can endure more beatings from ice and winds in the future.

If there are other seemingly innocuous but are actually dangerous trees around your property, our trained and certified experts will point that out to you as well. Nobody can predict an accident. It’s always better to err on the side of caution than to take a risk that may injure people or damage property further.

Because of the amount of work needed to be done after storms, there might be some shady personalities and fly-by-night companies lurking around offering storm damage cleanup for very cheap. Most of them neither have the training nor the proper equipment to execute a proper tree debris removal.

They themselves are not insured, and most likely, your insurance won’t cover the work they do.

They extend a one-day task to three days and don’t even clean up properly after themselves. They may even make the situation and the damage worse if they take on jobs they’re beyond capable of. And then they disappear off the face of the earth when you try to contact them to correct their mess.

Getting these types of guys to work on storm debris cleanup won’t help your situation. Ask for a certificate of insurance and a proper business license.

Nature may be fierce sometimes. Buildings break down, trees fall, but Michiganders get right back up.

You don’t need to do it alone. With all the things you need to set back right, you don’t have to be at your wits’ end.

Let Rochester Trees help you bounce back with professional storm damage cleanup and debris removal services so you have one less thing to worry about. We’ll leave your yard pristine as if the storm never came.

Fallen tree branch and yard debris removal? Call us at (248) 290-6343.