Storm seasons here produce the same calls every year, and the first hour after a tree comes down matters more than people expect — both for safety and for what your insurance will cover.
First, assume every downed or sagging line is live, and assume any tree touching a line is energised too. Stay back the length of the tree, keep children and pets inside, and call the power company before you call anyone else. No tree is worth approaching to get a better photo. This is the one rule with no exceptions.
Second, do not walk under anything hung up. A limb caught in another tree or resting on a roof is loaded with stored energy and can release with no warning and no sound. The same applies to a trunk that is bent over and pinned — those are the jobs that injure people, and they are the reason this work is done with rigging rather than a ladder and ambition.
Third, photograph everything before anything is moved. Wide shots showing the tree, the damage and the house together, then close-ups of the point of impact. Insurers routinely want to see the tree in place, and a cleanup that happens before the photographs can complicate a claim that would otherwise have been simple.
Fourth, if water is getting in, a tarp over the opening is worth doing as soon as it is safe — but only from inside or from the ground. Do not get on a wet roof with a storm-damaged tree still on it.
Then call us. Emergency tree work is the one time to phone rather than send a form: (803) 257-1568. We prioritize anything on a roof, across a drive or hung up over a house, and we aim to get out the same day. Bring the photos you took to the estimate — they help us plan the rigging before we arrive.