Trees are fundamentally sturdy and may withstand any normal challenges nature may bring on. But if exposed to severe weather conditions that may be catastrophic in proportion, it becomes inevitable that your tree may experience some degree of damage. Should this happen in your situation, here are some tips in handling a tree damaged by a storm or any other natural calamity.

Ensure Safety First

The first thing to do is ensure the safety of your family and property. Broken limbs may be tangled with utility lines and this can be very dangerous. You should not try to remove these limbs on your own. Inform the concerned parties immediately and stress the danger present in the situation.

Check for other limbs and other parts of the tree that may be in danger of falling in your house or in the ground, possibly causing injury to anyone. If no hazards are present, you may want to take out these broken components. But make sure to take safety precautions in your attempts to remove these broken parts.

As much as possible limit the use of power tools such as chain saws and if it can be avoided, do not do any scaling of the tree to remove damaged parts. When cleaning the ground of debris, always put safety first by wearing the appropriate attire.

Assess the Damage

After things may have settled, you might now make an assessment of the damage of your tree before making any decision. In this case here, it is either saving the tree or removing it and replacing with another one. Getting professional help in evaluating the tree’s condition would be very advisable.

Initial assessment would involve determining if the tree is still healthy and vigorous. If it did not suffer major structural damage, first aid measures may fix the problem. Then check for broken limbs. If those broken are the bigger limbs and if main branches are also damaged, chances of survival may be very small.

Then check for the tree’s crown – the branches and leaves. Experts say that chances of survival may not be good if only half of the crown remains. This may not be enough to keep the tree from surviving in the future.

The next step would be to check for any wounds. A tree becomes vulnerable to pest and diseases if the wounds are large, relative to the size of the limb affected. Smaller wounds would have greater chances of healing.

Making the Decision

Based on your assessment, you can now decide whether it is worth keeping the tree. Extensive damage to a tree is a sign that it would be better to remove it and replace with another one. However, manageable injuries can be handled and over time, the tree will itself. To make the best decision, seek the assistance of experts who may be able to gauge the situation more objectively and professionally.