Storm Damage & Emergency Work · Cambridge

Storm Damage and Emergency Tree Work in Cambridge

A tree on the house after a storm is the one situation where Cambridge's by-law lets the saw go first and the paperwork follow. The City still wants to hear about it within 48 hours, and we make sure it does.

Cambridge takes its storm damage from the same three directions as the rest of the region: freezing rain that loads every branch with ice, heavy wet snow when the leaves are on, and summer thunderstorm wind pushing whole trees over on saturated ground. The river valleys add a fourth. Trees on the Grand and Speed banks grow tall and one-sided reaching for light over the water, their root plates are in wet soil, and when a west wind comes down the valley they go over whole, sometimes into the river and sometimes onto the house above them.

What counts as an emergency

A trunk resting on a roof, a garage or a car; a tree across the only way out of the drive; a split stem that has not yet finished coming down onto whatever is beneath it; anything on or against a power line. Each of those is an emergency and gets priority response, meaning the crew is told at once and you go to the head of the list. After an ice storm that has hit all of Cambridge, the head of the list is still hours to a day away and we will say so. A limb on the lawn, a broken ornamental or a hanger over an empty yard is storm damage, not an emergency, and is booked and priced like other work.

The by-law in an emergency

By-law 23-105 recognises emergencies. A protected tree that has come down on a structure or is about to can be dealt with at once, and the City must then receive a description and photographs within 48 hours, to forestry@cambridge.ca. We photograph the tree and the failure before anything is cut, which covers the City's requirement and gives your insurer what the adjuster will ask for. A tree that has been damaged but is still standing and not threatening anything is an imminent-hazard case instead, which needs a professional assessment submitted before removal, and that is a day or two rather than an hour.

What happens first

• Power. If the tree is on a line or has pulled the service wire off the house, stay away from it and from anything touching it. GrandBridge Energy at 1-877-871-2215 is called before any cutting. A downed service wire can be live.
• Making safe. The first visit is often about removing the immediate danger: the weight off the roof, the hanger down, a split trunk stabilised. The full removal and clean-up may be a second visit once the queue clears.
• Weather in the house. The roofer follows us, not the other way round. Where it is safe once the weight is off, a tarp is fixed over the opening so the next rain stays outside until the roof is repaired.

City trees in a storm

A boulevard tree that has dropped a limb across your drive or on your car is the City's to deal with, through Service Cambridge at 519-623-1340, which also takes after-hours tree emergencies on public property. We cannot cut a city tree for you, though we can remove what has landed on your own property once it is clear whose it is.

Before the next storm

Almost every failure we attend was visible beforehand: a dead ash, included bark in a main union, a one-sided willow over the house, a long unsupported limb over the roof. An hour looking at the trees around the house in a dry week is the cheapest emergency call there is, and in Cambridge it also starts the permit clock early if a tree does need to come out.

Frequently asked questions

Serving Cambridge and surrounding areas. Contact us for a no-obligation quote specific to your property.