First: the two absolute rules
Assume every downed line is live. Northeast Arkansas storms drop service lines into trees, fences, and standing water, and a de-energized look proves nothing. Anything involving a wire is Paragould Light Water & Cable’s problem before it is anyone else’s - report it and stay back.
Stay out from under hangers. A broken limb caught in the crown is the most dangerous object in the yard, more than anything already on the ground. Do not walk under it to survey the rest.
The first hour, in order
- People and pets accounted for, and everyone out of rooms directly under a tree resting on the roof. Trees on structures shift.
- Lines checked. Wire involved anywhere? PLWC first, tree crew second. No exceptions.
- Photos of everything, before any cutting. The tree on the structure, the break point on the trunk, the damage, the yard. Wide shots and close-ups. Insurance adjusters pay from photographs, and a chainsawed scene is an argument you no longer have evidence for.
- The insurance call, if anything touched a structure. Ask two questions: what is my deductible, and does my policy cap tree removal separately from repairs. Write the claim number down.
- The tree call. A tree on a structure or blocking your only exit is emergency work and jumps the schedule. A tree flat in the open yard is not - saying so on the phone gets you the standard rate instead of the storm premium.
What not to do while you wait
- Do not put a ladder against anything the storm touched.
- Do not run a chainsaw over your head, off a ladder, or into a limb under tension - loaded limbs kick when cut, and storm limbs are all load.
- Do not sign with a door-knocker who “happened to be in the area” and wants the insurance check signed over. After every big blow, crews follow the damage north on US-49. A local written estimate with a name and a callback number beats a magnetic door sign every time.
- Tarping a roof is worth doing if it can be done from inside the attic or by someone equipped for the roof - not by you, at dusk, on wet shingles.
After the urgent part
Once the structure is clear and the drive is open, the rest of the cleanup can wait for daylight prices: hangers pulled, broken crowns pruned back to sound wood, the flat-on-the-grass trunk bucked and hauled at the normal removal rate. Storms also write next year’s list - the trees that lost big limbs this time are telling you which ones need weight taken off before the next front.
Keep this page somewhere findable. Storm season here is a when, not an if.