Louisville gets its share of serious weather every year — thunderstorms with straight-line winds, spring tornadoes (or at least tornado warnings), summer downpours, and the occasional ice event. If you've lived in the East End for more than a couple of years, you've had at least one storm that left debris scattered across your yard and probably a limb or two on the ground.
Here's what a decade of doing storm cleanup work has taught us about how to handle the whole cycle — before, during, and after.
Before: what to do when a serious storm is forecast
- Bring in loose items. Patio furniture, umbrellas, grills, kids' toys, planters that can tip. Louisville's straight-line winds can hit 60+ mph and turn everything unsecured into a projectile.
- Check drainage points. Gutters, downspouts, and yard drains that are clogged with leaves become the reason your basement floods. A five-minute check pre-storm can save a lot.
- Note what's already stressed. Trees that are dead, limbs that are cracked, fence sections that are leaning. Those are the pieces most likely to fail in high wind. If you can identify them now, you know what to check for after.
- Charge your phone. Extended power outages are part of Louisville summers. Have a full battery and a plan.
- Know where your circuit breaker is. If lightning takes out a specific circuit, you want to be able to find and reset it in the dark.
During: what not to do
The main thing during an active severe-weather event is stay away from windows and stay off the roof. No matter how bad a limb sounds hitting the house, there's nothing you're going to fix during 60-mph wind and driving rain. Wait it out.
If you lose power, unplug electronics to protect them from a surge when power returns. Don't run generators inside garages or near windows.
If there's a tornado warning, get to the lowest interior room in the house. Bathrooms, basements, interior closets. Louisville has a good outdoor siren system in most East End neighborhoods; take it seriously.
After: the cleanup sequence
Once the storm has passed and it's safe to go outside, here's the order to work:
1. Look for anything urgent.
- Downed power lines: do not go near them. Call LG&E at 502-589-1444 to report, and stay well away — at least 30 feet.
- Trees on the house or a vehicle: photograph before touching, then call your insurance company.
- Anything blocking your driveway or the street: usually a call to a cleanup service (like us) or a chainsaw job if you have the equipment and it's safe.
2. Document everything before cleanup.
If there's any chance of an insurance claim, take photos before you move anything. Wide shots of the whole property. Close-ups of specific damage. Before-and-after is what adjusters want to see. This is especially important for structural damage (limb on the roof, tree through the fence, etc.).
3. Prioritize safety over cosmetics.
Downed limbs on the roof, hanging limbs about to fall, limbs threatening the driveway — those come first. The cosmetic ground-level cleanup of scattered branches can wait a day or two.
4. Call the right people for the right work.
- Structural damage to the house: your insurance company, plus a roofer or contractor if the claim moves forward.
- Trees on structures or over power lines: a specialty tree service with crane capacity.
- Limbs on the ground, scattered debris, dead branches to be hauled: us or another cleanup service.
- Anything electrical: LG&E first.
5. Watch out for storm-chaser scams.
After every major Louisville storm event, out-of-state trucks show up in neighborhoods offering cash cleanup or roofing work. Some are legitimate, many aren't. The tell: legitimate contractors have Kentucky business licenses, insurance certificates they can show you, and reviews you can look up. Storm chasers usually don't.
Stick with local, insured, verifiable companies. Ask for a certificate of insurance. Check BBB and Google reviews. If they can't wait a day for you to verify, that's the answer.
When to call us
For scattered branch and limb cleanup, post-storm haul-off, insurance-claim documentation, or same-day response on downed limbs blocking driveways or on structures — call (502) 762-8817 or request an estimate.
We serve the Louisville East End and are usually able to respond within 24–48 hours after a major event, faster for existing clients. Insurance-claim work is welcome; we'll provide the documentation your adjuster asks for.
Serving St. Matthews, Windy Hills, Crescent Hill, Indian Hills, Rolling Fields, Anchorage, Prospect, and the whole Louisville East End.