Hurricane Prep for Trees, and What to Do After Storm Damage

Hurricane tree prep in Onslow County: book late February to early April, $1,500–$2,000 for weight reduction over a roof. Plus what to do the hour after a tree comes down.

By Michael Godbersen, Owner · Updated October 10, 2026

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Book hurricane prep between late February and early April — after the worst of winter, before the season opens on June 1, and while the schedule is still open. Weight reduction over a roof typically runs $1,500–$2,000; one to three low limbs is about $1,000. If a tree is already down: stay away from it, assume every line is live, photograph everything before anything moves, and call.

Call between late February and early April — that is when prep actually gets done

If you are going to do one thing about your trees this year, book it in late February, March or the first week of April. That window is a scheduling answer rather than a horticultural one, and it is worth being clear about which it is. The reasons are practical: the worst of the winter weather is behind us, the ground has usually drained enough to carry equipment, hurricane season does not open until June 1, and — the part nobody thinks about — our schedule is still open. Call us in late August with a pine over your bedroom and you are competing with everyone else who also just looked at the forecast. There is a second reason that only applies before the leaves are fully out: you can see the structure. A bare or barely-leafed canopy shows you the cracks, the dead limbs and the weak unions that a full summer canopy hides completely. Both of the broken limbs further down this page were found from a lift, not from the ground — but they were found far more easily for the tree not being in full leaf. If you have missed that window, call anyway. Later is worse than March and considerably better than never.

$1,500–$2,000 to take the weight off a roof. about $1,000 for one to three low limbs.

Those are the two numbers people actually want, so here they are before the explanation. WEIGHT REDUCTION OVER THE ROOF — $1,500–$2,000 TYPICAL. This is the single most requested piece of hurricane prep we do, and it is the one with the best return. We are not topping the tree and we are not thinning it for looks: we are shortening and lightening the specific limbs whose failure would put wood through your roof. A shorter, lighter limb has less leverage on its attachment and catches less wind, and that is the whole mechanism. ONE TO THREE LOW LIMBS — about $1,000. The small version. No lift needed, usually an hour or two, often the limbs over a driveway or a shed rather than the house. Both figures sit inside the $1,500+ band on our trimming page rather than contradicting it, because work over a roof means the lift, and the lift is what sets that floor. What we will not do is sell you topping. Cutting a tree back to stubs makes it look safer and makes it genuinely more dangerous — the regrowth is weakly attached and comes back faster and denser than what you removed. If someone quotes you a cheap price to "cut it back", that is usually what they mean.

Tree trimming in Jacksonville, NC — the full price bands and why we never top a tree

First to lose its leaves and last to leaf out? That is the tree to worry about

There is a tell that costs nothing to check and that almost nobody uses, and it works on the calendar rather than on the tree. Watch which of your trees drops its leaves first in the autumn and which is last to leaf out in the spring. A tree doing both is under stress. It is running short of the resources to hold a canopy and short of the reserves to push a new one, and it is telling you so months before anything visible is wrong with the trunk. That is our own observation from this county rather than a published finding, and it is not a diagnosis on its own — a young tree in a bad spot and a sixty-year-old water oak with a hollow core can show the same pattern for completely different reasons. What it is good for is deciding which tree gets looked at. If one of yours is consistently last in and first out, and it is within falling distance of the house, that is the one to have measured. The reason it matters for storms specifically: a stressed tree is also the tree least able to seal a wound, least able to defend itself against beetles, and most likely to be carrying decay you cannot see from the ground.

The first hour after a tree comes down: what to do, in order

ASSUME EVERY LINE IS LIVE. A conductor on the ground can be energized and silent. It does not spark, it does not hum, and it can energize a fence, a puddle or a wet tree limb some distance away. Stay back, keep everyone back, and call the utility before you call us. This is the one item on this list that kills people. DO NOT GO UNDER IT TO LOOK. A tree that has come to rest against a house or another tree is holding load in ways that are not obvious, and the thing people do — walk underneath to see how bad it is — is exactly what a partially supported limb is waiting for. PHOTOGRAPH EVERYTHING BEFORE ANYTHING MOVES. From several angles, including wide shots that establish where the tree stood and what it hit. Your adjuster needs to see the tree in place. Once it is cut up and stacked, the evidence of what happened is gone and you are asking someone to take your word for it. TARP THE OPENING, OR HAVE SOMEONE DO IT. Water getting in is what turns a roof repair into a ceiling, insulation and drywall repair. On an emergency call this is the first thing we do, before the tree is fully removed. THEN CALL. If the tree is on the structure, that is emergency work and it prices differently from a scheduled removal — see the emergency page below for what that actually costs and why almost none of it is the tree.

Emergency tree service — what a tree on the house actually costs

What storm damage actually looks like before it falls

Most of what we are called out to after a storm did not break during that storm. It broke earlier, hung up in the canopy, and came down when the next wind arrived. That is the case for looking up after every significant blow rather than only after the one that does visible damage. A limb that has snapped but is still caught in the crown is loaded, unstable, and completely invisible from a driveway — and it will come down eventually, on its own schedule rather than yours. The two photographs below are both of that: limbs broken and split in the canopy, still up there, found on inspection. Neither property had any idea.

Measuring a trunk instead of guessing at it

How to prevent the damage that is actually preventable

The work that actually reduces storm damage, in the order it is worth doing: • Take weight off the limbs that sit over the roof — what trimming costs and what we take off • Remove the dead and declining trees before a storm finds them for you — what a removal costs and how long it takes • Measure a trunk you are unsure about instead of guessing at it — resistograph testing • Support a weak union rather than losing the whole tree — cabling and bracing • Settle what your policy covers before you need to know — storm cleanup and insurance • And if one is already leaning, that is its own question — is a leaning tree dangerous after a storm? None of this makes a tree storm-proof. What it does is remove the failures that were predictable, which in our experience is most of them.

A tree through a barn roof — Beulaville, October 2, 2020

A thunderstorm, not a hurricane. This is worth saying first, because the trees people prepare for are the named storms and a good proportion of the damage we actually clean up comes from an ordinary afternoon in October.

A tree trunk driven down through the metal roof of a barn in Beulaville, NC, after the October 2, 2020 thunderstorm. — The tree came down through the barn roof and stayed there.

A tree resting inside a structure is a different job from a tree on the ground, and the difference is that the building is now part of the rigging problem. Cut it in the wrong order and the barn takes the rest of the load.

Crane boom extended over the damaged barn in Beulaville, NC, with the crane truck set up on the grass alongside. — Crane set up alongside. The open field is what made a crane possible here.

So we craned it out of the barn rather than cutting it apart in place: take the weight on the crane first, then make the cut, then lift the piece clear of the building before anything is set down. The climber goes in to set the rigging and make the cuts, and the crane holds what he is cutting.

A climber roped into the fallen tree where it lies across the barn roof in Beulaville, NC. — Setting the rigging in the fallen tree, roped in, working off the crane.

The crane lifting a cut section of the tree up and clear of the barn roof on slings, Beulaville, NC. — A section coming up and out, clear of the roof, before it is set down.

Once the barn was clear we removed the rest of the tree. The whole approach was decided by one thing: there was open ground to put a crane on. In a fenced backyard the same tree is a rope-and-rigging job and a much longer one — which is what a tight-access removal costs extra for. Access decides the number.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I have my trees trimmed for hurricane season?

Late February through early April. The winter weather is past, the ground has usually drained enough to carry equipment, the season does not open until June 1, and our schedule is still open — call in late August and you are competing with everyone else who just looked at the forecast. A second advantage of that window is that a bare or barely-leafed canopy shows you the cracks, dead limbs and weak unions that full summer leaf cover hides.

How much does it cost to cut back branches over my roof?

Weight reduction over a roof typically runs $1,500–$2,000. One to three low limbs, with no lift needed, is about $1,000. We are shortening and lightening the specific limbs whose failure would put wood through the roof, not topping the tree or thinning it for appearance — a shorter, lighter limb has less leverage on its attachment and catches less wind.

Full trimming price bands →

What should I do if a tree falls on my house?

Get everyone clear and assume any downed line is live — a conductor on the ground can be energized, silent, and can energize a fence or a puddle some distance away. Call the utility before you call a tree company. Do not walk underneath the tree to assess it. Photograph everything from several angles before anything is moved, because your adjuster needs to see the tree in place. Then call us: tarping the opening is the first thing we do, since water getting in is what turns a roof repair into a ceiling and drywall repair.

Emergency tree service — response and cost →

Is storm damage tree removal covered by insurance?

Often, if the tree damaged a structure. We bill your insurance directly and work with your adjuster, doing everything we can so your cost stays at your normal deductible. Ask for the estimate split between emergency mitigation and debris removal — the small tree-debris sublimit on a homeowner policy generally applies to the debris side and generally does not apply to the mitigation side. A tree that fell in the yard and hit nothing is frequently not covered at all.

What a policy typically covers after a storm →

Can a storm-damaged tree be saved?

Sometimes, and it depends on what broke. A tree that has lost some limbs can often be pruned back into a sound structure and keep going. A split trunk or a weak union that has started to come apart may be a candidate for cabling and bracing rather than removal. What generally cannot be saved is a tree whose root plate has lifted — if the soil has heaved on one side, the wood quality is beside the point. A pine that has browned out after a strike is finished; a hardwood that looks rough may not be, which is what measuring the trunk is for.

When hardware can hold a weak union together →

How can I tell which of my trees is stressed?

Watch the calendar rather than the tree. The one that drops its leaves first in autumn and is last to leaf out in spring is under stress — short of the resources to hold a canopy and short of the reserves to push a new one. That is our own observation from working in this county rather than a published finding, and it is not a diagnosis by itself. It is a good way to decide which tree gets looked at properly.

Veteran-Owned, Family-Operated — Serving Onslow County Since 2013

Veteran-owned & disabled-veteran-owned
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Serving Onslow County since 2013 — 3,500+ jobs
$2M general liability + workers' comp; every machine individually insured
Godhans LLC — registered & active with the NC Secretary of State (SoSID 1961439)

$2M general liability and workers' comp on every job — and every machine, including the spider lift, is individually insured. If a contractor's equipment isn't on the policy and it damages your home, you hold the bill. Ours is covered.

Meet Michael and James — the brothers who own the company and run the crew.

Broken in the canopy, still up there

A heavy limb snapped and left hanging in the canopy after a storm, Onslow County, NC. — Snapped, and still caught. This is what you are looking up for after a blow.

A split pine limb still caught in the canopy, Onslow County, NC. — A split limb hung up in a pine. It will come down on its own schedule.

Tree Service in Jacksonville, NC

Looking for local tree experts in Jacksonville? We provide professional tree care throughout Jacksonville, NC and surrounding communities. Visit our tree service in Jacksonville NC page for more details on the services we offer in your area.

Other Services We Offer

We also provide professional emergency tree service, tree removal, tree trimming and storm cleanup services in Jacksonville, NC and surrounding areas.

Before the next storm

The pages that cover each piece of this in full:

Tree trimming and weight reductionWhat we take off, what it costs, and why we will not top a tree.
Emergency tree serviceA tree already on the structure — response, tarping, and what it prices at.
Storm cleanup and insuranceThe mitigation-versus-debris split, and why it decides what gets paid.
Is a leaning tree dangerous after a storm?Which leans are a problem, and which have been fine for twenty years.
Resistograph testingMeasuring how much sound wood is left before a storm finds out for you.
Is my pine dying or dangerous?Lightning browns 30 to 40 percent of a canopy and leaves spiral cracks — plus what beetle pitch tubes mean.
Removing a tree close to the houseThe tight-access premium, and what changes when position sets the price.

Want to hear it from our customers first? Read all 27 Google reviews — what comes up most is the cleanup, the communication, and the fact that the quoted number holds.

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Late February through early April is the window. Free estimates across Jacksonville and Onslow County — and if your trees are fine, we will tell you that too.

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