I Have a Tree Emergency! What Do I Do?

a tree has fallen over and broken a fence and rails

Breaking Down the Scenarios When You Need to Call a Wichita Tree Service

Picture this: you’re going about your normal morning routine. Maybe you’re having your morning cup of coffee while checking emails or watching the morning news. Suddenly, you hear a distinct splintery cracking sound from outside. It’s immediately followed by a crashing thump that smacks the side of your house.

You go outside to investigate and see the issue immediately. A major branch of one of your trees has broken off and crash landed onto your roof. From your vantage point, you can already tell damage has been done to your home and you won’t be able to deal with the branch yourself. It’s too far out of reach and too heavy to handle on your own.

This, dear reader, is what we call a tree emergency. It’s one of the many situations where a tree has either caused property damage or is a safety concern to you and your family. After defining what a tree emergency is, we’ll deep dive into when to get in touch with a Wichita tree service, how tree emergencies are handled, and tree care best practices that will avoid tree emergencies.

Tree Emergencies Defined

A tree emergency is usually very obvious when it occurs. An incident of this nature is usually a safety concern, a property damage risk, a hazard to public spaces and roadways, or some combination of the three. As a professional tree service that has taken care of many tree emergencies during our tenure, the most common situations we see are:

  • A tree has completely fallen over onto property or a public space
  • A tree or large tree branch has fallen, resulting in a blocked roadway
  • A tree is showing obvious signs of splitting, meaning it could break at any time
  • A tree or large branch has fallen onto power lines
  • A tree or large branch has caused some other type of hazard

What to Do in the Event of a Tree Emergency

When a tree emergency happens, the number one thing that should be kept top of mind is safety. It may be tempting to investigate the fallen tree or branch, but a good best practice to follow is to keep a safe distance. Never, under any circumstance, walk under a partially broken tree branch that is leaning on something. Large tree branches can weigh several hundred pounds and are a huge safety liability.

The next step is to figure out who to call to deal with the fallen tree or branch. If the tree is off your property line, such as the space between the sidewalk and the curb, that’s a tree that likely belongs to the city of Wichita. For city-related tree emergencies, the Parks & Rec Department of Wichita suggests calling any of the following numbers to report it:

If the fallen tree or branch is within your property line, then the responsibility of removing it falls on the homeowner. This also might be the case if your neighbor’s tree falls onto your property. If there was any property damage, make sure you call your insurance company to report the claim first. It’s possible you may be asked to take photographs of the tree and the damage it caused for the purposes of the claim filing.

Once you have the all-clear from your insurance company to remove the tree, you should feel free to reach out to Huff’s Tree Service. We’re a team of tree specialists and arborists near you in Wichita that know exactly how to handle fallen branches and trees.

What to Expect When Working with Our Wichita Tree Specialists

We know that a fallen tree or large branch can be a major disruption to your daily life. In some cases, it can even cause property damage that makes your home difficult to live in. Just know that when you call Huff’s Tree Service, we have the staffing, resources, and experience to handle these types of situations.

Once you get in touch with us, we’ll ask for a little bit of info about the fallen tree or branch. This gives us an idea of how many people we should bring and the equipment we’ll need. Once our team has arrived, we will methodically cut down the tree or branch into manageable sizes and remove them from your property piece-by-piece. Our methods mitigate the chances of any further property damage occurring and keep you and your family out of harm’s way.

You can get in touch with us by using the contact form on our website or by calling (316) 871-3841 during our normal business hours (M-F: 8am to 4pm). Additionally, we provide a full suite of professional tree services that will keep your trees healthy and resistant to breaks and splits.