Cullman gets weather. Spring storms, summer microbursts, the occasional ice event — and every one of them puts a tree down somewhere in the county. If a tree just came down on your property, the first few hours matter more than the next few days. Here's what we'd tell our own family to do.
First — back away from the tree
A storm-damaged tree is a different animal than a healthy tree. Limbs under load can release with no warning. Trunks split halfway through can move when the wind shifts. Power lines tangled in the canopy might still be live. Before you do anything else:
- Stay clear of the canopy.Don't walk under hanging limbs. Don't stand near a split trunk. Keep kids and pets out of the area entirely.
- Assume any wire is live.If the tree is touching a service drop or a transmission line, call the utility before you call us. The utility de-energizes the line; we work around it once they confirm.
- Don't try to clear it yourself.Chainsaws and tension don't mix. A bound-up limb under load is the most common way homeowners get hurt after a storm.
Document for insurance
Most homeowner policies cover tree removal when a tree damages a covered structure — house, garage, fence, sometimes the driveway. Before we move anything, take photos. Wide shots from a couple angles. Close-ups of the damage. The base of the tree where it came out of the ground.
If the tree is on the house, call the insurance carrier and start a claim before the cleanup begins. The adjuster will tell you what they need for documentation. We can work directly with the adjuster's scope when needed — we've done it dozens of times.
Call early — same day if possible
Storm calls move quickly in Cullman because everyone's calling the same crews. The window between the storm and a busy week is usually a few hours. If you can call as the storm is clearing, you'll be near the top of the schedule instead of near the bottom.
What we need on that first call:
- Address.Street and city is enough.
- What's happening.A tree on the roof, a tree across the driveway, limbs hanging into the yard, a leaner that's still standing — they're different jobs and we plan differently.
- Whether anyone is in the home.Trees on roofs aren't always safe to occupy. If there's structural concern, we'll tell you to evacuate before we arrive.
- Photos if you can text them.Two or three from the yard help us plan the gear before we leave the shop.
What the work looks like
Storm work is rarely a clean takedown. The tree is already where it ended up — sideways across the roof, leaning into the neighbor's fence, halfway uprooted with the root plate still attached. The first job is making the scene safe — securing what's loose, rigging anything that's going to move under cutting load. Then it's a slow piece-by-piece extraction, working from the outside of the tree in toward the trunk.
Sometimes we can save the tree if the damage is limited to a major limb. Most of the time, once it's down, it's coming all the way out — and the cleanup matters as much as the removal. Brush hauled, chips off the lawn, the property left in a state the insurance adjuster can finish documenting.
“The hours after a storm are when the work matters most. Show up, work safe, leave the property in better shape than you found it.”
— Trenton Clemmons, Clemmons Tree Service
Plan ahead — the next storm is coming
Most of the storm calls we run are predictable. Dead hardwoods near the house. Pines with rot at the base. Co-dominant trees with weak unions. Limbs hanging over the roof for a decade. If you've got any of those on the property, the time to address them is before the next storm — not after.
If a storm just hit and you've got damage on the property, call (256) 595-0939. Same-day visits when we can, next morning when we can't.
Trenton Clemmons, Owner