Storm response in Cardinia Shire — 24/7.
Tree on the house. Branch through the carport. Limb hung up across the driveway. Big gum leaning the wrong way since last night’s north-westerly. Phone (03) 9003 0108 — the duty arborist answers after hours, not a call centre. Insurance documentation included.
What we treat as an emergency.
- Tree on a building. House, garage, shed, carport. Make-safe first (stop further damage), full removal once insurance assessor has seen it.
- Tree on a car or vehicle. Removed off the vehicle so the tow truck can collect. Insurance photos taken.
- Tree across the driveway or blocking access. Cleared to restore access, side-stacked for later cleanup if necessary.
- Hung-up limb (“widow-maker”). Broken branch lodged in another tree or against the canopy — will drop, but unpredictably. Don’t walk under it.
- Large dead limb over a target. Driveway, footpath, play area, pool. Pre-emptive removal.
- Major lean change since last storm. Especially gums with new soil-heave at the base or visible root-plate movement. Often precedes failure.
- Tree across powerlines. AusNet/Powercor first for power isolation (call 13 17 99 for AusNet, 13 22 33 for Powercor). Then us for removal.
What to do before we arrive.
- Stay out from under the tree and exclusion zone.
- Photograph the damage from a safe distance — insurance wants this.
- If powerlines are involved, do NOT touch anything — call AusNet 13 17 99 (high-voltage) or Powercor 13 22 33 immediately.
- If gas line is broken or you smell gas, call AusNet Gas 13 67 07 and evacuate.
- Move pets and kids inside. Watch for further branch fall.
How storm response works.
1. Phone triage.
Tell us what’s happened, what’s under the tree, whether anyone’s hurt. We’ll talk you through immediate safety — turn the power off at the mains if branches are touching service lines, evacuate the affected room of the house if a tree is on a roof. We assign the closest available crew. ETA confirmed within 5 minutes.
2. On arrival.
The lead arborist walks the scene with you, assesses the tree/structure, photographs everything, and confirms the make-safe plan. Most insurance assessors want photos taken before we touch anything. We do all four: scene wide-angle, tree-on-target close, structural damage, our crew at work.
3. Make-safe.
The minimum work needed to stop further damage and restore safe access. Tree off the roof, hung-up limb extracted, driveway cleared, live wires not crossed. We don’t do speculative removal on a storm callout — we make safe, then quote any further work. Make-safe is usually the part insurance pays.
4. Documentation.
Written incident report, before/after photos, itemised invoice, insurance certificate and arborist qualifications — emailed within 24 hours. Most insurers want all four for the claim file. Direct contact with your assessor offered if helpful.
5. Followup.
Once insurance has seen the scene, we quote the rest of the work — full removal of the tree, stump grind, fence repair coordination, neighbour-tree assessment, etc. Sometimes the tree can be saved with structural prunes; sometimes it has to come out. We tell you honestly.
Where we respond.
Tree down? Branch through the roof?
Call now — 24/7 emergency line. 60–120 min response central shire.