Why a downed tree is an emergency
Falling trees kill people, and they do it most often on the road. Thomas Schmidlin's study in the journal Natural Hazards counted 407 deaths from wind-related tree failures in the United States from 1995 through 2007. Forty-four percent of the victims were in vehicles, struck by a tree or driving into one across the road; 38 percent were outdoors; 9 percent were in mobile homes and 9 percent in frame houses. Thunderstorm deaths clustered from May through August, hurricane and tropical storm deaths from August through October, and snow and ice deaths from December through April (checked Nov 9, 2026).
North Carolina has lived through the worst version of this. By the State Climate Office of North Carolina's count, Hurricane Fran killed 24 people in the state in 1996, and falling trees caused half of those deaths; roughly 1.7 million customers lost electricity. It wrote that the downed trees, damaged buildings and outages in Fayetteville and the Triangle rivaled the scenes Hugo had left in Charlotte seven years earlier (checked Nov 9, 2026).
Closer to home, the National Weather Service in Raleigh recorded a 44-knot gust, about 51 mph, at the Moore County Airport during Florence on September 14, 2018, with 9.18 inches of rain near Aberdeen and 24 people and 31 animals evacuated from floodwater in the southeastern part of the county (checked Nov 9, 2026). Ice is the winter version: the State Climate Office says the January 24–25, 2000 storm left about 260,000 people without power statewide, mostly in the Sandhills, and that a quarter inch of ice reached into the Sandhills in January 2016 (checked Nov 9, 2026).
First steps after a tree comes down
- Get everyone out from under it. A trunk resting on a roof can shift as wind keeps blowing or as branches are cut, and it can push through a ceiling.
- Stay away from lines and anything touching them. Duke Energy says not to approach a downed power line or anything near one, including trees, limbs and vehicles. Randolph EMC tells members never to go near a downed line or a tree near or touching a line (both checked Nov 9, 2026). Report it to your utility: Central Electric's outage line is 877-766-6769 and Randolph EMC's is 877-736-2633, according to North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives; Duke Energy customers should use the number on their bill. Call 911 if someone is hurt or a line is sparking or burning.
- Don't climb onto the tree in the road. Report it to whoever keeps the road; see the table below.
- Photograph everything before it moves. The N.C. Department of Insurance tells homeowners to list the damage and take clear photos before making temporary repairs (checked Nov 9, 2026). Shoot the whole tree, where it stood, the roof, siding, gutters, fence, cars and any water coming in.
- Call your insurance company. The same department says not to make permanent repairs until the company has inspected the damage. Ask what they need to see before the tree is lifted off.
- Only then book the removal. Getting a trunk off a roof without making the damage worse takes rigging skill. Tell the contractor exactly what is resting on what.
Who clears which tree
| Where the tree is | Who to call (checked Nov 9, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Across a state-maintained road | NCDOT's Moore County Maintenance Yard, 993 Priest Hill Road, Carthage: (910) 773-8070 |
| On a Pinehurst street | The village says it manages trees along its public streets. Public Services: 910-295-5021 |
| On a Southern Pines street | The town says Buildings and Grounds takes care of right-of-way trees that are a public safety hazard. Parks & Grounds: 910-692-4863 |
| On or against power lines | Your utility. Duke Energy says its crews clear vegetation from the lines, but getting rid of the wood and limbs from that emergency work falls to the property owner |
| From your lot onto your house | You, with your insurance company if an insured structure was hit |
| From a neighbor's lot onto your house | Your own insurance company first; it may go after the neighbor's insurer |
In Aberdeen, Whispering Pines and the other towns, call the town office for a tree on a town street. If you can't tell who maintains your road, call 911 for a blocked road in an emergency and describe where the tree is lying.
How insurance usually treats fallen trees
In guidance it put out in July 2010, the Insurance Information Institute described the usual pattern under a standard homeowners policy (checked Nov 9, 2026):
- A tree that falls on the house is generally covered for the damage to the structure and what's inside it, and removing the tree is usually covered too, often up to about $500 to $1,000 depending on the company and policy.
- A tree that lands without hitting anything insured generally isn't covered for removal, though some companies may pay to remove one blocking a driveway.
- When the tree came from next door, you still file with your own company. It may later seek repayment from the neighbor's insurer through subrogation, which the Institute says sometimes happens when the tree was in poor health or not properly maintained.
NC State Extension's paper on tree fall liability adds the North Carolina angle: a neighbor who wants to hold the tree's owner responsible generally has to show negligence, and the signs that make a failure foreseeable include a tree that is dead or visibly dying, or one leaning prominently toward the neighbor's property (checked Nov 9, 2026). That's one more reason not to leave a dying pine standing over a property line. Policies differ, deductibles included; read yours, keep every photo and receipt, and call the N.C. Department of Insurance's consumer line at 1-855-408-1212 if a claim stalls.
Which damaged trees should come down
Not every storm-battered tree is lost. The N.C. Forest Service's storm assessment guide gives clear lines (checked Nov 9, 2026):
- Remove a tree that has lost 50 percent or more of its live crown.
- Remove one with cracks into the heartwood, or with a split between two main stems.
- Remove one whose root zone is lifting or whose soil is cracking at the base.
- Inspect closely any tree leaning about 30 degrees or more.
- Take down broken limbs still hanging in the crown.
For pines, the Forest Service's bulletin on storm-damaged southern pines says to expect mature trees with visible root damage to die, especially with a lean past 45 degrees, and that heavily damaged trees are best removed as soon as possible, before insects and decay set in (checked Nov 9, 2026). Broken tops on pines often recover. See dead or leaning trees.
The brush after a storm
Normal pickup limits still apply unless the town announces otherwise. Southern Pines takes limbs cut to 4 feet or shorter and no thicker than 4 inches, up to 3 cubic yards a pickup; Pinehurst takes loose debris in its brown cart and sends larger loads to the Moore County Landfill at 456 Turning Leaf Way in Aberdeen (all checked Nov 9, 2026). Watch your town's announcements after a big storm, and ask whether the contractor's price includes hauling or chipping.
Burning storm brush is off the table inside Southern Pines and Pinehurst. Outside them, the N.C. Forest Service permit rules apply, and bans can stop everything: in spring 2026 the Moore County Fire Marshal's Office issued a countywide ban that covered even fires close to homes, as Moore County News reported on April 1, 2026 (checked Nov 9, 2026). See the rules guide.
When the price gouging law applies
Once the governor declares a state of emergency, North Carolina's price gouging law is in force, the N.C. Department of Justice said in a February 18, 2025 release. Businesses can raise prices to cover their own rising costs, but not unreasonably to increase profit. The department's disaster page says courts can impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation (both checked Nov 9, 2026). The same release mentioned a lawsuit against a tree removal company accused of overcharging a Hendersonville couple by $25,500. To report a suspected case, call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or file at ncdoj.gov.
What goes wrong after storms
- Cutting before photographing. The insurance company may want to see the tree where it landed.
- Working near a line. A line can be live even while your own power is out.
- Cutting wood under tension. A bent pine or a pinned limb can spring back violently when cut.
- Paying everything in advance. The Department of Justice advises against paying for work before it's done, and against paying cash.
- Taking the first knock on the door. The same office warns about contractors who go door to door offering services after disasters.
- A deal with no paper. Get the work, the price and a completion date in writing, even when you're rushed.
Other pages that may help
Still standing but worrying you? See dead or leaning trees. To get ahead of the next storm, read tree trimming and longleaf and tall pines. If anyone is hurt or trapped, call 911 before anything else.
Storm questions
Can I cut the tree off my roof myself?
Please don't. The weight of a trunk across a roof shifts as pieces come off, and a wrong cut can drive it further into the house. A crew with rigging can lift or lower it in a controlled way.
Will my policy pay to remove a fallen tree?
If it hit the house or another insured structure, removal is commonly covered up to a limit, often around $500 to $1,000 in the Insurance Information Institute's 2010 guidance (checked Nov 9, 2026). One that fell only into the yard usually isn't. Your policy is what decides.
The utility cut the tree off the line. Will they haul it away?
Duke Energy says no: once its crews have cleared the lines in an emergency, the wood and limbs left behind are the owner's to deal with.
Does a storm-damaged tree need a town permit?
For a tree on your own lot in Southern Pines or Pinehurst, generally not, but a tree in the right-of-way still belongs to the town, and a front-yard tree in Pinehurst's historic district may need village approval. Call the town if you're unsure.
This site passes each storm request to one independent contractor who works in Moore County. It does no storm cleanup or tree work itself.
- Schmidlin, T. W. (2009), journal paper counting deaths caused by trees that failed in wind across the U.S. from 1995 through 2007, Natural Hazards, volume 50. Checked Nov 9, 2026.
- State Climate Office of North Carolina, 2016 blog post on Hurricane Fran's legacy; winter storm event record for January 24–25, 2000; "Rapid Reaction" on the January 24–25, 2026 storm. National Weather Service Raleigh, Hurricane Florence post-tropical cyclone report (September 21, 2018). Checked Nov 9, 2026.
- Duke Energy, Trees and Safety and Trees and Rights-of-Way FAQ; Randolph EMC in Carolina Country (June 2021); North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives, Report an Outage; NCDOT directory, Moore County Maintenance Yard. Checked Nov 9, 2026.
- Insurance Information Institute, insurance for fallen trees (July 22, 2010); N.C. Department of Insurance release (September 25, 2024); NC State Extension, Tree Fall Liability. Checked Nov 9, 2026.
- N.C. Forest Service, Storm-Damaged Tree Assessment Best Management Practices; Managing Storm Damage to Southern Yellow Pines (TRB-002, August 2015). Checked Nov 9, 2026.
- Town of Southern Pines, Trees and Yard Debris pages; Village of Pinehurst, Solid Waste page and Buffer Development Standards FAQ; Moore County Solid Waste page; Moore County News, April 1, 2026. N.C. Department of Justice, price gouging release (February 18, 2025) and Disaster page. Checked Nov 9, 2026.