A tree is on your house, your fence, your car, or across your driveway. Before anything else — get every person and animal away from the tree, away from anything it’s leaning on, and away from any wire it might be touching. If you see or suspect a downed power line, treat the entire yard as live and call 911 plus the power company. Do not approach. Everything else can wait.

Once people are safe, the next few decisions affect what insurance pays, how much the cleanup costs, and how long the repair takes. This is a plain-talk walkthrough of what to do in the first hour, the first day, and the first week after storm damage on a Houston property — plus what homeowners insurance actually covers when a tree comes down.

The first hour

Stay clear of the tree and any wires it’s touching. A tree that landed on the roof might also be resting against the service drop — the wire from the pole to your house. That wire can stay energized even when the lights are out. Assume any limb in contact with a wire is live until the power company says otherwise.

Call 911 if anyone is hurt, trapped, or if a wire is down. Houston Fire Department will dispatch a crew. The power company (CenterPoint in most of the Greater Houston area) needs a separate call when a line is on your property — Fire will usually make that call but follow up to confirm.

Don’t go inside the structure if a tree is through the roof. Even when the ceiling looks intact, the framing may be compromised and a partial collapse can happen hours later. Wait until daylight or until the tree is removed before assessing interior damage.

Take photos before you touch anything. Shoot the tree from multiple angles, the damage to the structure, and the position of the tree relative to the property line if a neighbor’s tree fell on your side. Phones are fine — quantity beats quality. These photos are the single most important piece of evidence for the insurance claim.

Call a tree service for emergency assessment. Not every fallen tree is an emergency. A tree on a fence at noon Saturday is different from a tree on a roof at midnight. But if the tree is on a structure, blocking a driveway, or threatening to shift further, get a crew out. We answer emergency calls 24/7 and can tarp, brace, or remove the immediate hazard so the rest of the cleanup can proceed in daylight.

The first day

File the homeowners insurance claim. Don’t wait. Most Texas policies have a notice-of-loss requirement and the clock starts at the time of damage, not when you got around to calling. Have your policy number, date and time of the storm, photos, and a basic damage description ready.

Document everything you spend. Tarps, plywood, hotel rooms if the house is uninhabitable, emergency tree-service charges to make the property safe — all of it goes on the claim under “additional living expenses” and “reasonable mitigation costs.” Save and photograph receipts.

Get the immediate hazard handled. Insurance expects you to take “reasonable steps” to prevent further damage — a tarp on the roof, plywood over a broken window, a temporary fence repair if pets or kids could get out. They reimburse documented mitigation. They do NOT reimburse damage that got worse because you waited too long to act.

Don’t sign anything from a storm-chaser contractor. After every major storm, out-of-state crews flood Houston neighborhoods. Most are fine; some are predatory. Anyone asking you to sign an “assignment of benefits” or to negotiate directly with your insurance company before doing any work is the wrong call. Get the property safe with a local crew first, then choose your repair contractor on your schedule.

The first week

Get the tree fully removed and the site cleared. Once the hazard is contained, the tree itself needs to come out — including any stump pulled out at an angle, root ball that heaved soil, and the brush. A clean site lets the roofer, fence company, or builder start the repair without working around debris.

Get two or three repair quotes for the structural damage. The adjuster will compare them to their own estimate. If your quotes are higher than the adjuster’s number, that’s a negotiation, not a dead end.

Walk the rest of the property with the tree crew. A storm that took one tree often weakened others. Cracked limbs that didn’t fall yet, new lean with soil heave at the base, half-stripped canopy — these are the trees that come down next storm. Better to address them now than file two claims in one season.

What homeowners insurance actually covers

Coverage varies by policy and carrier, but for standard Texas HO-3 homeowners policies the general pattern looks like this. Always confirm with your specific policy and adjuster.

Tree fell on a covered structure (house, garage, shed, fence) — generally covered. The policy usually pays for both the structural repair AND the tree removal, though removal is often capped between $500 and $1,500 per tree. Your deductible applies.
Tree fell in the yard but didn’t hit a structure — generally NOT covered for removal. The exception is if the tree is blocking a driveway or accessibility ramp, which some policies cover separately.
Tree fell on your car — covered under the comprehensive portion of your AUTO policy, not your homeowners policy. Auto deductible applies.
Neighbor’s tree fell on your property — counterintuitive but standard: your homeowners policy handles damage on your side, not the neighbor’s. Storms are “acts of God” so each owner’s insurance covers their own property. The exception is when you can prove the neighbor knew the tree was dangerous and didn’t act — a high evidence bar.
Tree was already dead or dying before the storm — often disputed. Carriers may deny or reduce coverage if the tree was visibly compromised pre-storm. This is one of the strongest arguments for documented pre-storm assessments on any tree that worries you.
Stump removal — often NOT covered, even when the tree removal is. Treated as a landscape expense.
Replacement of the tree itself — generally NOT covered, or only at a token amount on policies that include landscape coverage.

For homeowner-facing guidance on tree-related claims and storm response, both Texas A&M Forest Service and the International Society of Arboriculture publish plain-English resources covering the technical and procedural side of post-storm tree work.

What we cover at Tree’s 101

We’re a family-owned, licensed and insured tree service serving the Greater Houston area, with a decade-plus of hands-on experience and the owner supervising every job. For storm damage specifically:

24/7 emergency response — fast extraction of fallen, leaning, hung-up, or storm-damaged trees from structures, fences, vehicles, and access ways
Tree removal — including dangerous removals where a tree is unstable but hasn’t fully fallen yet
Tree trimming and pruning — pre-storm canopy reduction and deadwooding, plus post-storm pruning of damaged but salvageable trees
Stump grinding — when the storm pulled the root ball out at an angle or the removal left a stump in the way of a fence or driveway repair
Lot clearing — when a storm took down multiple trees and the property needs a full reset before rebuilding
Insurance documentation — written estimates, before/after photos, and crew reports in the format Texas adjusters expect

If you have a tree down right now, the fastest path is to call. For non-emergency storm assessments, book an estimate and we’ll be out within 24 hours.

FAQ — storm damage tree removal in Houston

How fast can a tree crew get to my house after a storm?

For genuine emergencies — tree on a structure, vehicle, or driveway, or a leaning tree threatening to fall further — we aim to have a crew on the way within hours, not days. During widespread storm events every tree service in the Greater Houston area is at capacity, so calling early in the event matters. For non-emergency assessments after the immediate danger has passed, a free estimate visit is generally within 24 hours.

Will my homeowners insurance pay for the tree removal?

Usually yes if the tree damaged a covered structure (house, garage, shed, fence), and usually no if it just fell in the yard. When covered, the tree-removal portion is typically capped between $500 and $1,500 per tree and your deductible applies. Your specific policy and carrier control the actual numbers — call your insurance company and file the claim before authorizing major work. Keep every receipt, photo, and written estimate.

A tree fell on my fence — whose insurance pays, mine or my neighbor’s?

In Texas, when a storm-blown tree damages a neighbor’s property, the property owner whose property was damaged generally files on their own homeowners policy, regardless of whose tree it was. The reasoning is that storms are “acts of God” with no fault assigned. The exception is if the tree was visibly dangerous well before the storm and the owner had been notified in writing — that can shift liability, but the evidence bar is high. Document the situation and let the adjusters work it out.

What about a tree that’s leaning but hasn’t fallen yet?

A new or worsening lean after a storm is one of the highest-priority calls we get. The tree is telling you the root plate has shifted and the next gust may finish what the storm started. Don’t park under it, don’t let kids play near it, and call for emergency assessment. Insurance treats a tree that “fell” and a tree that was “removed before falling” very differently — getting a written assessment on file matters for any later claim.

Should I tarp the roof myself or wait for the adjuster?

Tarp it as soon as it’s safe to get on the roof, or pay a roofer to do it. Insurance expects “reasonable steps” to prevent further water damage and they reimburse the cost. They do NOT pay for damage that got worse because the homeowner waited days to cover an open hole. Document the tarp with photos before, during, and after, and save the receipt.

Is stump removal covered too?

Usually not. Most policies treat stump grinding as a landscape expense rather than a damage-repair expense, even when the tree removal itself is covered. Exceptions sometimes apply when the stump is in the way of structural repairs (e.g., a fence rebuild needs the stump out first), but the default expectation is out-of-pocket.

Does Tree’s 101 work directly with insurance adjusters?

Yes. We provide written estimates in the format Texas adjusters expect, document before/after with photos, and coordinate timing with the adjuster’s site visit when needed. We don’t take assignment-of-benefits agreements and we don’t negotiate the claim on your behalf — that stays between you and your carrier — but we make the documentation side straightforward.

If you have storm damage right now:

Call (832) 423-6445 — 24/7 emergency response
Book a free estimate → — for non-emergency assessments
See the gallery — before & after

Storm Damage Tree Removal: What to Do First (and What Insurance Actually Covers in Houston)