How to handle downed trees in Houston: 3 important steps

HOUSTON – Thursday night’s hurricane-like winds left downed trees and a lot of limbs and branches littered across Houston-area neighborhoods.

Friday morning, you could hear the symphony of chainsaws if you were out, like many people were, either cleaning up or helping others.

• Harris County residents ‘may have to go a couple of weeks without power’

Here are the steps to reporting and removing downed trees on your property or street:

STEP 1: Houston’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) wants you to start by calling 311 or 713-837-0311 to report debris and fallen tree damage.

“In a disaster like this, it can be hard to get through on the phones. 311 has an online portal that makes it easy to report downed trees and other hazards,” OEM posted late Thursday night on their Facebook page.

If you can’t get through on the phone, go to this page on the city’s 311 website and click on the yellow box at the bottom right to “Report a Problem.”

STEP 2: Take pictures of any damage related to trees, limbs or other debris. You’ll need these for insurance claims.

STEP 3: Call your insurance company, and the sooner the better. They may need to come out and assess the damage to process a claim.

• SEE FRANK’S TAKE ON THE STORM: Here’s what hit Houston yesterday

OTHER STORM-RELATED STORIES WORTH FOLLOWING TODAY:

• Harris County residents ‘may have to go a couple of weeks without power’
• One more round of storms in Houston; what’s next?
• Useful tips on how to sort through storm debris during cleanup

PEOPLE AND PLACES HIT HARD BY DEADLY STORM

• Mother killed by fallen tree in SE Houston near Buffalo Bayou during Thursday’s severe weather
• Trees, power lines down in Houston; Daylight illuminates how severe deadly storm truly was
• Whitmire tours major damage in downtown Houston