How to handle downed trees in Houston: 3 important steps

HOUSTON – Monday’s severe weather and tornado damage left downed trees and a lot of limbs and branches littered across Houston-area neighborhoods.

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.

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.