With winter finally on its way out, we may soon be experiencing plenty of spring and summer showers. If you have large and valuable trees on your property, you probably know the risks that serious storms bring to the trees themselves, but also to the buildings surrounding them and the people who live or work close by. Once a tree has become damaged by a storm, it becomes a serious safety risk. It’s important you take the risk seriously and get the help of professionals to remove the storm damaged tree. Here are a few things you should know in case one of your trees becomes damaged by a storm this year. Storm Damaged Trees Are Dangerous Every year, hundreds of people underestimate the danger of storm damaged trees. Instead of getting professional help immediately, they may try to take care of the trees themselves. When trees are leaning on top of doorways, sidewalks, and other areas, some people ignore them and walk directly under them. These actions unnecessarily put your safety and life at risk. Vertical cracks, shifting weight, and high tension pressure points are a few of the risks that are hard to recognize, but can be extremely dangerous. You Shouldn’t Take Care of Them Yourself When homeowners and non-professionals try to take care of storm damaged trees by themselves, it often results in serious injury or death. In fact, hundreds of people are hurt each year because they did not think they needed to get the help of a professional. Household tools and equipment are not designed to deal with the hazards associated with storm damaged trees. People get injured every year when they use ladders and other tools not intended for tree care. You Need a Certified Arborist Whenever you have storm damaged trees, you should get in touch with a certified arborist. A professional arborist can safely examine the tree and determine if it needs to be removed and how to remove it. Because arborists already have a lot of experience removing healthy and stable trees, this gives them the knowledge and skills necessary to take care of trees that are less secure. The Trees Haven’t Finished Moving Often after a storm, there will many trees that were not completely uprooted. These trees were partially torn out of the ground and may be still standing by their own power or leaning on top of other trees or buildings. Just because these trees look stable, they usually are not and can still shift and move. That’s why it’s very important that you avoid walking under or next to storm damaged trees. Stay away from the immediate area if possible and call an arborist for help. They Create Electrocution Hazards Many people don’t realize how storm damaged trees can cause electrocution. Sometimes when storm damaged trees fall on power lines, the power lines become obstructed by branches and leaves. This leads to dangerous situations where people don’t realize the electrocution risk. In some situations, downed wires can even electrify fences and other metal structures in the area. Not All Trees Can Be Saved It can be really depressing when you lose a large and beautiful tree on your property. However, if the tree suffered too much damage, there is nothing you can do. If you are hoping to save the tree, you should contact a certified arborist who can examine the tree and tell you its chances of survival. Many different factors will affect a tree’s survival, such as number of broken branches, amount of the crown that was lost, and the size and number of wounds. If your tree can be saved, a certified arborist can help you come up with ways to support its recovery. Sources: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/treecare/maintenance/stormdamage.html