Tornado damage · Fox Valley
Storm Damage Cleanup and Tornado Debris Removal
A tornado came through the Fox Valley and a lot of people are standing in their yard right now looking at something they've never had to deal with before. If that's you, here's the honest version of how this goes.
Start by calling. Don't start by hauling.
The most common mistake after a storm is people spending a weekend dragging debris into three separate piles that all end up going the same place anyway. Call or text Dan at (920) 216-0247 before you wear yourself out. Send photos if it's easier than explaining it. A couple of wide shots of the yard and the pile tell him more than a paragraph will.
Dan comes and looks at it first
For anything past a simple load, he comes out and looks before quoting. Storm damage doesn't estimate well over the phone, because the tree in the photo is always bigger in person and the access is always tighter. He'll walk the property with you, tell you what he can take today, what needs equipment, and what genuinely belongs with somebody else: a roofer, an electrician, your insurance adjuster.
What he can take
Downed trees and cut trunk sections. Limbs and brush. Roof shingles and torn-off decking. Siding, soffit, fascia and gutters. Fence sections and posts. Shed and outbuilding wreckage. Ruined deck boards. Patio furniture, grills and trampolines that ended up three yards over. Water-damaged furniture, carpet, drywall and insulation out of a flooded basement. Garage contents that got soaked or crushed. In most storm jobs it's all mixed together, and Dan hauls it mixed. You don't have to sort it into perfect categories before he shows up.
Dumpster, crew, or both
Some people want a dumpster in the driveway so family can work through it at their own pace. Some want it gone today and don't want to touch any of it. Both are normal. Dan will tell you which one costs you less for what you've actually got. Sometimes a single truckload beats renting a container, and he'll say so rather than pushing the bigger ticket.
On price
Storm weeks are hard on people. Insurance hasn't paid yet, the deductible is real money, and nobody budgeted for this. Dan is a local operator, not a national franchise reading off a rate card. A dumpster starts at $300 flat for a 10 yard with disposal included, and for cleanout work where the crew does the loading he'll give you a number up front before anything moves. If it's more than you can do right now, say so. Sometimes the answer is doing the driveway and the access path first and the back yard next month.
Storm damage cleanup near you in Appleton, Neenah and Menasha
Call or text Dan. Photos help. He'll tell you straight what it takes.
Practical advice
What To Do First After Storm Damage
Before you pick anything up, five things worth knowing. None of this requires hiring anybody.
-
Stay clear of downed power lines
Treat every line on the ground as live, including cable and phone lines tangled with it, and including lines lying in standing water or draped over a fence. Don't move limbs that are touching a line. Keep kids and pets back and call the utility. This is the one item on the list where being wrong really hurts.
-
Photograph everything before you move it
Your insurance claim gets easier with pictures taken before cleanup starts. Wide shots of the whole property, then close-ups of each damaged thing. Get the tree where it landed, the hole in the roof, the crushed fence, the soaked contents. Photograph serial numbers on damaged appliances. It costs you ten minutes and it's the single best thing you can do for your claim.
-
Don't cut into limbs under tension
Storm-thrown wood stores enormous spring load. A branch bent under a trunk, a limb pinned against a roof, a leaning trunk hung up in another tree. Cutting those releases the energy all at once and in a direction you didn't plan on. If a piece is loaded, leaning, or holding something else up, leave it and let somebody with the right equipment deal with it.
-
Separate what's actually salvageable
Set aside anything you plan to keep, repair, or that the adjuster still needs to see, and keep it away from the debris pile. Metal is often worth pulling out separately, and Dan runs scrap-only containers. Everything else can go mixed. Doing this once, early, saves you from digging a keepsake back out of a full dumpster later.
-
Call before you start hauling so you don't pay twice
People rent a trailer, make four trips, get hit with dump fees at the gate, and still have half the pile left, then call a hauler anyway. One call up front tells you whether it's cheaper to do it yourself or to have Dan take the whole thing at once. He'll tell you either way.