After a storm, keep clear of damaged trees and leave loaded or hung-up material to a crew. We at Broadway Tree Care run an emergency tree removal crew across Citrus County through the season, and the steps below explain what to report when you call.
First, make the area safe
Keep children and pets inside while you look over the property from a safe distance. Check overhead as well as the ground for limbs that have not finished falling.
- A cracked limb hung up in the canopy, called a widow-maker, can drop without warning. Stay out from under it.
- A trunk that is leaning or has lifted soil on one side is still moving. Give it room.
- Branches bent and pinned under the weight of the tree are loaded like a spring. Cutting one releases that force suddenly.
Trees and power lines: hands off
This is the one rule with no exceptions. Any line touched by a tree, pulled tight, or lying across the yard is treated as live, even if your power is out and even if it looks like a phone or cable wire. Do not go near it, do not move the limb off it, and do not let anyone drive over it. Call 911 and your electric utility, which for most of Citrus County is Duke Energy Florida, and let them de-energize and clear the wire. Only after the line is confirmed dead can a crew safely take the wood off it. Before the next storm, our guide to trees near power lines in Citrus County sorts out who trims what.
What not to do yourself
Do not climb onto the tree or a roof to reach a limb, cut a limb that is under tension, run a chainsaw you do not use often, or work alone. We understand the urge to fix it before dark, but a few things reliably turn a property loss into an injury:
- Climbing onto a fallen tree or a roof to reach a limb. Storm-damaged wood shifts underfoot and roofs are slick and weakened.
- Cutting a limb that is under tension. Where the wood is bent or pinned, a saw releases the load in a direction you cannot predict.
- Running a chainsaw you do not use often, on the ground you cannot see, in a hurry. Kickback is how most saw injuries happen.
- Working alone. If nothing else, have someone with you who can call for help.
Document it before you clean up
Before cleanup, take wide and close photographs of the tree, its landing point and damage to the house, roof, fence or vehicles, and keep receipts for tarps or emergency work. Ask your insurer about preventing further damage and opening a claim; we can give you a written removal quote for the adjuster.
Emergency, or can it wait?
A limb on open ground clear of wires may be able to wait, while material on a house, a split or leaning trunk over an occupied area, a hung-up stem or anything near a power line needs urgent attention. Call and describe the situation so we can explain the appropriate next step.
After the immediate danger
After the fallen tree is made safe, a tree health assessment can check nearby trees for storm damage. If removal is needed, see what actually drives the cost of removing it.