What Actually Causes Most Storm Damage Here?
Wind gets blamed, but freezing rain is what's actually behind most of the emergency calls this crew answers. Cornwall sits low enough in the St. Lawrence Valley that a slow-moving system can hang freezing rain over the area for hours, unlike the short, sharp burst a typical windstorm brings. That ice accumulates evenly across the whole crown overnight, and a tree can wake up the next morning hauling several times its normal weight with not a single gust involved.
What Should I Do Before The Crew Gets There?
A few steps make the site safer and any insurance claim simpler:
- If a hydro line is anywhere in the debris, that call goes to the utility first — and stay off anything the tree is resting against, fences and vehicles included - Keep back from the part of the tree still standing; wood that has already given way once is under strain and can go again - Photograph the scene before anything gets moved - Note what came down, where it landed, and whether a crew can actually get in
How Do You Decide Which Call To Answer First?
Calls get answered by how dangerous the situation is, not by the order they came in, and it seems fairer to say that outright than let anyone assume otherwise. A tree resting on a house or blocking the only way out jumps ahead of one lying harmlessly across an open lawn.
Why Is Storm-Damaged Wood More Dangerous To Cut?
Wood bent or pinned under another piece is holding tension it wants to release, and a cut in the wrong place lets that energy go faster than anyone can react to it. Reading which piece is under load, and the sequence to release each safely, is the part of this work that genuinely takes training — a chainsaw built for firewood is not built for a tree already torn apart by wind or ice.
What Does Emergency Cleanup Actually Include?
Two separate jobs make up emergency storm damage cleanup: making the site safe, and clearing the debris, and both go on the same written estimate so there is one clear number, not a surprise later. Whether the stump gets ground immediately or scheduled for another day also gets settled up front.