The 2007 ice storm still puts trees on the ground in Greene County
In January 2007, an ice storm dropped roughly two inches of ice on Greene County — caused around $40 million in public-infrastructure damage and broke the upper canopy of half the mature trees in Springfield. As recently as November 2024, local news was still reporting that area tree services are dealing with structural failures from trees that were stub-cut after that storm and regrew with weak attachments.
That's the kind of work storm cleanup actually is: not just clearing what fell yesterday, but understanding what failed and why, and what's likely to fail next.
Two timelines of storm work
Storm response splits cleanly into two operating modes:
Active hazard (call us now)
If you have:
- A tree leaning over a structure that wasn't leaning yesterday
- Major limbs broken and hung up in the canopy ("widow-makers")
- A trunk split or partially uprooted
- A tree on a power line, vehicle, or structure
- Broken bark exposing wood on a major scaffold limb of a tree you care about
Call (417) 323-6775 directly. The line routes to Jordan's cell after office hours. We triage what's imminent and clear the path to safe.
Scheduled cleanup (call us when it's daylight)
If you have:
- A tree that broke but isn't threatening anything
- Branches down in the yard or driveway
- Wind-stripped bark or canopy thinning
- Smaller hung limbs out of high-traffic areas
We schedule the cleanup for the next business day or two. No premium for the hours we don't have to work in the dark.
What we do on an emergency call
- Phone triage. What's happened, what's threatened, and what we need before showing up. If it's actively dangerous — a tree on a roof, broken limbs over an occupied area — we treat it as immediate.
- Site triage. Eyes on the tree, identify imminent secondary failures, secure the area.
- Make safe. Remove or stabilize whatever's actively dangerous. This often isn't the full cleanup yet — it's the work that turns an emergency into a job.
- Full cleanup. Hauled brush, cut-up wood, raked debris, ground-level workmanship. Returns the site to a normal state.
- Documentation. For insurance claims, we provide a written summary of damage, what we removed, and what condition the tree was in beforehand if we knew it.
Common storm-damage failure modes
What we see most:
- Snapped scaffold limbs from ice load. Most common in pines, eastern redcedar, and trees with heavy lateral branching. The mass of accumulated ice on outer canopy can be six to ten times the tree's normal load.
- Co-dominant trunk failure. Trees with two competing main stems and "included bark" between them split apart in heavy wind or ice. Often catastrophic — half the tree comes down.
- Root-plate failure. When wet ground meets high wind, mature trees can tip whole — the entire root mass lifts. Common after long periods of saturated soil followed by a wind event.
- Stub failures from old topping. Trees topped after past storms regrow with weak attachments. Those new branches break under any meaningful load.
- Lightning strikes. Less common, but devastating when they happen — strips bark in a vertical seam, may not be fatal but compromises the trunk long-term.
What you can do before we arrive
If the situation is dangerous:
- Stay away from the affected area. Hung limbs can drop hours after the storm. Trees with partial root-plate failure can tip further. Power lines pulled down by tree branches stay energized until the utility de-energizes them.
- Call the power company if any line is involved — not us, them first. We don't work around live lines.
- Move vehicles out from under any damaged canopy.
- Photograph what you see for insurance.
We'll handle the rest.
Storm-damage insurance and documentation
Most homeowner's policies cover removal of trees that have damaged a covered structure. They don't generally cover removal of trees that fell but didn't hit anything, or hazardous trees that weren't a problem before the storm. Carrier rules vary.
We provide written documentation of every storm job — what was removed, what condition the tree was in, what the failure mode was. Submitting this with your claim usually moves it through faster.
Signs you need to call now, not Monday
- A tree leaning over a structure where it wasn't before.
- Branches still partially attached and swinging in any wind.
- Bark stripped vertically along the trunk.
- Soil cracking or heaving on the uphill side of a leaning tree.
- A power line caught in or pulled down by tree branches (call the utility first, then us).
- Any tree threatening human-occupied space.
Common questions
Are you actually 24/7 for storm calls? Office hours are Monday–Friday 8am–4pm. The office line (417) 323-6775 routes to Jordan's cell after hours. For active hazards, we respond to calls evenings and weekends. For non-emergency cleanup, we'll schedule for the next business day.
Will my insurance cover this? Depends on the carrier and whether the tree damaged a covered structure. We provide documentation that helps the claim process; we don't bill insurance directly.
How long until you can be on site? Active hazards: typically within a few hours of the call. Non-emergency cleanup after a major storm event: 1–3 business days depending on the volume of calls we're working.
What about big storm events when everyone needs service? We prioritize active hazards first, then commercial contract clients, then residential cleanup. We'll give you a realistic ETA up front.
Can you give a price over the phone? For active emergencies we triage on-site and quote the make-safe work before we start anything chargeable. For routine post-storm cleanup, photo-based quotes work when the damage is straightforward.
If something is on the ground, in the way, or threatening to fall — call. We'll tell you fast whether it's a now-problem or a tomorrow-problem.