Inclement weather can range from mildly annoying to completely devastating. In a serious situation, torrential conditions could cause a vulnerable tree to fall on your house. If this unfortunate event occurs, it’s important to follow a few steps before contacting a professional for tree removal to ensure the safety of your family and home.

How to Handle a Tree Falling on Your House

1. Leave the House Quickly

Fallen trees can cause significant structural damage to the home. After you’ve accounted for everyone, it’s important to evacuate the premises immediately and seek shelter in a safe location. Once you’ve left the house, contact emergency services to alert them of the problem. They can provide you with the proper actionable steps to take and may also have a firetruck or utility technician assess the damage and ensure your home’s safety.

2. Call Your Insurance Provider

Once it’s deemed safe to return to the property, take stock of the damage. Take pictures of everything, and try to capture as many different angles as you can, so your insurance company can make a fair decision that best benefits you and your family. Bear in mind that the condition of the tree could play a role in how much of your losses are recovered. While a healthy tree that falls is usually fully or mostly covered, one that was clearly in danger of falling and required emergency removal may not be if you were aware of the problem and didn’t take steps to eliminate it promptly.

3. Contact a Tree Service

You can trust a tree removal technician with extensive experience to properly and safely remove the tree from your home. This is also a good time to have them assess the rest of your yard for other potential threats that could arise in the event of another storm. Tree pruning may be effective for dealing with low-hanging branches that graze your home, while a complete removal could be necessary for others that pose a threat.

The tree removal experts at L & M Tree Service take your safety seriously after a storm. Based in Kalispell, MT, these licensed and insured professionals can handle everything from emergency tree removal and stump grinding to basic pruning. Visit them online to learn more about how they can assist you if a tree falls on your home, or call them at (406) 261-7240 to schedule an appointment.