Tree Fell on Your House in DeLand? 5 Steps to Take

If a tree just fell on your house in DeLand, do these five things in order: get everyone out of the affected rooms, stay far from any downed power lines, photograph everything before touching anything, get the roof tarped to stop water intrusion, and call a licensed, insured tree crew with crane and rigging capability. Never climb on the roof yourself, and never let a bargain chainsaw crew up there either.

Step 1: Is the House Safe to Stay In?

God's Country Tree Service responds to trees on houses across DeLand and Volusia County, and the first instruction is always the same: get people away from the impact zone before anyone thinks about the tree. A trunk resting on a roof is not stable — it can shift, roll, or punch deeper through the decking without warning. Clear the room directly under the strike, and if you see ceiling sag, new cracks running across drywall, doors that suddenly won't close, or any structural shifting, get everyone out of the house entirely.

Two hazards outrank the tree itself. First, downed or sagging power lines. Duke Energy serves DeLand, and a service drop torn off the house by a falling limb can leave an energized line lying in wet grass. Treat every downed line as live, keep everyone well back, and report it to Duke Energy before any crew starts work. Second, gas. If you smell gas anywhere in the house, leave immediately, don't flip switches or light anything, and call your gas provider and 911 from outside. A crushed roofline can shear vent stacks and appliance connections you can't see from the yard.

Step 2: Why Document Everything Before Any Work Starts?

God's Country Tree Service tells every storm-damage caller the same thing: once the scene is safe, your phone is your most valuable tool. Photograph and video the tree, the roof, the interior damage, and the surrounding yard from multiple angles before a single branch is cut. Insurance adjusters reconstruct what happened from your documentation, and a tree that's already been removed is much harder to claim than one captured on camera lying across the ridge line.

One point of confusion worth clearing up: in most cases, your own homeowner's policy is the one that responds when a tree lands on your house — even when the tree grew in your neighbor's yard. Liability generally shifts only in specific circumstances, such as a documented pre-existing hazard, so don't burn hours arguing over the fence line while water pours into your attic. File under your own policy, keep every photo and invoice, and let the insurers sort out the rest. For a full walkthrough of how claims, deductibles, and removal coverage work, read our guide to what Florida homeowners insurance covers for fallen tree removal.

Step 3: How Do You Stop Water From Pouring In?

God's Country Tree Service treats water intrusion as the clock that's always running on a tree strike in Central Florida. A punctured roof in DeLand rarely gets a dry grace period — summer afternoon thunderstorms roll through almost daily from June into September, and hurricane season runs June through November. The tree does its damage in seconds; the rain that follows can soak insulation, drywall, flooring, and wiring for days if the hole stays open.

Emergency tarping is the answer, and it should happen the same day whenever conditions allow. In many cases the tree — or part of it — has to come off the roof before a tarp can seal the breach, which is why tarping and tree removal are usually coordinated as one emergency response rather than two separate calls. Document the damage first (Step 2), then get the roof covered. Your insurer expects you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and a properly secured tarp is exactly that.

Step 4: Who Should Actually Take the Tree Off Your Roof?

God's Country Tree Service has been removing storm-fallen trees in DeLand since 2014, and this is the step where homeowners get hurt and houses get wrecked a second time. A tree on a structure cannot simply be chainsawed where it lies. The trunk is under load — cut it in the wrong place and the released tension can kick the saw back, roll the log through the roof, or drop thousands of pounds onto whatever is left holding the ceiling up. Getting a tree off a house safely means rigging, controlled lifts, and often a crane that picks each section straight up off the structure instead of dragging it across shingles and gutters.

That's why the crew you call matters more here than on any routine job. Our 24/7 emergency tree service and storm cleanup crews arrive with the rigging gear and certified arborists to dismantle the tree piece by piece over your roofline, and our fallen tree removal and cleanup work is backed by full licensing and insurance. Never let an uninsured chainsaw crew onto your roof — if a worker gets hurt or the removal caves in more of the structure, an uninsured operator's mistake can become your financial problem. Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation before anyone climbs, no matter how convincing the door-knock pitch sounds after a storm.

Step 5: What Happens After the Tree Comes Off?

God's Country Tree Service doesn't consider a tree strike finished when the trunk hits the ground — a storm-damaged property still holds a full canopy's worth of debris and, more importantly, the trees that are still standing. Full cleanup means bucking and hauling off the trunk and limbs, raking out the small debris, and leaving the yard usable again, whether that's the same visit or a scheduled follow-up through our tree removal service.

Then look up. The storm that dropped one tree stressed every tree around it. Central Florida's laurel oaks and pines are the usual failures here: laurel oaks decay from the inside as they age, pines snap in sustained wind, and when a tropical system saturates DeLand's sandy soil, whole root plates lose their grip and mature trees uproot in gusts they'd normally shrug off. A neighboring oak that leaned through the same storm may be the next one on your roof. Learn the warning signs of a dangerous tree — new lean, heaving soil at the roots, cracked limbs hanging in the canopy — and have anything suspect evaluated for hazardous tree removal before the next system arrives. Better yet, get ahead of the season with hurricane-prep tree trimming so the June-through-November stretch finds your canopy thinned, balanced, and clear of the roof.

Tree on the House: Frequently Asked Questions

God's Country Tree Service answers these four questions on almost every storm-damage call in DeLand and Volusia County.