What to do when a tree falls on your house

Key takeaways

• Falling trees are a bigger threat than many realize, causing more deaths than lightning strikes.
• Immediate safety steps — evacuating, calling emergency services and notifying insurance — are critical after a tree falls.
• Routine tree inspections and maintenance can significantly reduce the risk of costly damage.

Trees or branches torn down by high winds other than tornadoes killed 34 people and injured another 101 in the U.S. during 2025, according to The Weather Channel.
That’s more than lightning, which the National Weather Service totaled at 21 that same year. Tree damage cleanup and repairs in 2025 cost between $1,500 and $5,000, according to Integrity Home Exteriors in Toledo, Ohio.

Here's how to prepare and minimize the damage.

There are several steps you should take if and when a tree falls on your home, according to Executive Tree Care, a Sharon Hills, Pennsylvania arborist company:

• If you're in the house when a tree falls, leave the house and the property as soon as possible. Beware of downed electrical lines. Shut off gas and power. Use the safest route possible to get away from the house. Avoid using electronic devices, as a spark could ignite an explosion.
• Call 911 or emergency services. They will send fire or appropriate responders to ensure the house is safe. If anyone has been injured or killed, let the dispatcher know this when you call. Seek medical care or wait for an ambulance if you have been injured.
• Document damage and call your insurance company as soon as possible so they can agree to cover any emergency costs, removal or other details covered in your homeowner's policy. Use photos, videos and a detailed description of the incident.
• Arrange for temporary repairs. Some insurance policies require homeowners to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Use tarps, boards or plastic sheeting to seal openings and keep out rain and debris.
• Contact a tree surgeon, tree removal company, builder or any other home professional to examine any damage and remove the tree and secure the home so there is no additional damage to your property or possessions.
• Schedule a home inspection. Have a professional contractor examine your home to ensure there is no hidden structural damage, like cracks, leaks or weakened walls.
• Plan for repairs. Work with a contractor and your insurance company to draw up a plan.

Many homeowners don’t know the signs of an unhealthy, dying or dead branch or tree. Here are a few, from RTEC Treecare in Falls Church, Virginia:

• Large branches attached with tight, V-shaped forks. These branches are prone to failure and may need to be lightened or removed.
• Cracks in the trunk of the tree or in major limbs.
• Fungi growing from the base of your tree or under its canopy. This could be a sign of root decay.
• Branches that are pointing or hanging downwards — these damaged branches can easily fall during storms.
• Partially attached limbs hung up in the high branches that could fall.
• Large cavities in the tree trunk.
• Wires in contact with tree branches.

Other things you can do to ensure you and your family are safe from tree falls include:

• Have an arborist inspect your trees every year, or whenever there's been an injury or damage to a tree — such as a lightning strike, hit by a motor vehicle or a pest infestation.
• Do preventative pruning and ask your neighbors to do the same. Preventative pruning reduces wind resistance and removes dead branches. This reduces the risk of the tree or the tree's limbs snapping under the force of wind gusts.
• Make sure your trees are mulched correctly if you mulch them. Mulch protects the root system of the tree and allows water and nutrients to drain down through the soil to the roots. This keeps the root system healthy, which helps the tree stay strong during storms. Unhealthy root systems can lead to trees uprooting and snapping in heavy winds.
• Wrap your young trees to prevent sunscald — or winter damage commonly seen on young trees, newly planted trees and thin-barked trees (cherry, crabapple, honey locust, linden, maple, mountain ash, plum). It causes the tree bark to dry and crack.

Legal issues regarding who pays for damages or home repairs to your house from a falling tree in your yard, or from a neighbor's yard, vary greatly from state to state, county to county and insurer to insurer. It's best to talk to your insurance agent before anything happens to determine if you are covered in the event of a tree fall.
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