Emergency Storm Tree Removal in Naperville, IL

Emergency storm tree removal is a different kind of job from a planned takedown. The tree is already partly down, it may be resting on a roof or a car with tension stored in the trunk, and limbs can be hung up in the canopy waiting to fall. In Naperville, where most homes sit under mature subdivision trees and the ground is heavy clay that turns soft in wet weather, a single strong thunderstorm can uproot a big maple or split an ash in half. If a tree is on your house or across your driveway, call (630) 864-5605 and leave the details; we work storm calls in order of danger.

What Naperville storms look like

The city has seen the worst kind. On June 20, 2021, an EF-3 tornado formed at the west edge of Springbrook Prairie and cut east through south Naperville, near Plainfield-Naperville Road, Princeton Circle and Ranchview Drive, before crossing into Woodridge, Darien and Burr Ridge. The National Weather Service reported thousands of trees down along that path, including large trees that fell on Naperville Fire Station 2. Most storm damage here is smaller and more common: lines of summer thunderstorms, derechos like the one in August 2020 that brought 60 to 70 mph winds across northern Illinois, wet snow on trees that are still in leaf, and freezing rain in winter.

First, safety

If a tree is touching a power line, assume the line is live. Keep everyone away and call the electric utility; in Naperville that is generally the city's own electric department, and in many surrounding towns it is ComEd. If a tree has come through the roof, get people out of that part of the house. Do not try to cut a trunk that is bent or pinned under load; the stored tension can make a chainsaw cut kick or the trunk spring with enough force to injure someone badly.

How we work a storm call

The first job is to take the weight off the house or car without causing more damage. That often means removing the top and limbs first, then lifting or lowering the trunk in sections. Sometimes a crane is the safest way to pick a large trunk off a roof, and if one is needed we arrange it and tell you before it is booked. Once the tree is off the structure, you can get a roofer or a tarp crew in. Remaining hangers and broken leaders are taken down next, then the rest of the tree is cleaned up.

Insurance and records

Take photos of the tree and the damage before anything is moved, if you can do it safely. Homeowner policies often treat a tree that hits a covered structure differently from a tree that falls in an open yard, so call your insurer early. We provide a written, itemized invoice that describes the work, which helps with a claim.