Clean-up after the storms in the Tri-State

CINCINNATI - The clean-up effort began Thursday after the powerful storms Wednesday night. In Westwood, 9 News found some major storm damage where a tree had landed on a car. Homeowners called Gorilla Mike's Tree and Stump to remove the tree.

Michael Orr who handles sales for Gorilla Mike's said this job would take anywhere from four to five hours to clean up.  "There's a lot of energy stored in a limb that's hanging onto a tree and leaning against another object," Orr said. "Usually, you want to have a crane to take care of something like this. You want to release that energy before you begin to cut stuff off. So it's more expensive for storm damage for that reason."

At another home in Anderson, we found a crew from Hendel's Tree Care and Landscaping working on the roof of a home where a tree fell and went inside. They said that tree removals can cost anywhere from $700 to $4,000.

Hendel's offered the following tips:
1. Call your insurance company first before calling a service company.
2. Call a reputable professional to do the work.
3. Do not pay in cash before the work begins.
4. If you pay in cash, ask for a paid receipt.
5. If a tree falls on your roof, staple a tarp to the roof to prevent water damage.

This is dangerous work so you may not be able to do it yourself like Andrew Wetherill from Anderson.   

"It actually fell right across the driveway to a point where actually my car couldn't actually pull up and it actually missed my house by approximately three feet, taking down a power line," said Wetherill.

There are steps you can take to prevent tree damage before the next storm. Call a local arborist who can come out to your home to do a risk assessment of the trees on your property.