Storm emergencies

The Outaouais has learned what wind can do. The EF3 tornado of 21 September 2018 struck the Mont-Bleu sector, and the derecho of 21 May 2022 dropped trees on houses and power lines on both sides of the river. Both events produced the same scene hundreds of times over: a tree down, wires in the yard, and nobody sure what to do first.

In the first five minutes: the wires. If a tree or branch is touching a power line, or a line has come down, move everyone at least ten metres away, do not approach and do not touch anything, not even a branch that looks well clear of the wire. Call 911 and Hydro-Québec before you call a tree service. A downed conductor can energise the ground around it, and a wet tree conducts electricity.

In the first hour: make it safe and document it. Keep people and vehicles away from the area under the tree and under any hanging branches. A branch that has broken but is held in the crown can fall hours later with no wind at all. Photograph everything before anything moves: the tree, the point of impact on the roof, the inside if water is coming in, the stump and the lifted roots. Your insurer will ask for those photographs.

Step three: the on-site assessment. The crew looks first at where the tree is bearing, what is holding it, and which way it will go when it is cut. A tree lying on a roof is often under tension, with the trunk fibres compressed on one side and stretched on the other, and a cut in the wrong place releases that energy all at once. That is why this work is not done with a chainsaw rented on a Saturday morning.

Step four: sectional removal. Weight comes off first: the branches, one at a time, starting with those not bearing on the structure. Then the trunk, in lengths, often with a crane or a bucket truck holding the piece before it is cut. The aim is that nothing lands on the house a second time.

Step five: tarping and clean-up. Once the tree is off, the roof has to be tarped the same day if it is punctured, because otherwise rain does more damage than the tree did. Clean-up follows: chipping, bucking, raking. Keep an itemised invoice, because your insurer will treat emergency removal, roof repair and stump grinding as three separate things.

How long it takes. A hanging branch is one to two hours. A tree across a driveway is half a day. A tree on a roof with a crane is one to two days, and the delay depends mostly on whether a crane is available the day after a major storm, when the whole region is looking for one.

What it costs in 2026. Emergency work sits at the top of the ordinary ranges or beyond them. As a reference point, removing a large tree over 18 m runs $1,030 to $2,580 and up in normal conditions; an emergency removal off a roof, at night or at a weekend, with a crane, regularly exceeds that. What raises the bill: the crane, work outside normal hours, tension in the wood, proximity to wires, and tarping. Ask for the quote to separate making it safe, removal and clean-up, because insurance treats them separately.

The permit, in an emergency. A dangerous tree is one of the grounds the City of Gatineau accepts for removal, and the authorization certificate remains the rule (Ville de Gatineau, certificat d'autorisation d'abattage). In a genuine emergency safety comes first, but document the condition of the tree with photographs and contact the City at 311 as soon as you can. And if the tree belongs to the street right-of-way it is the City's: do not cut or prune it yourself, call 311 (Ville de Gatineau, plantation, entretien et abattage).

Who should do this work. This is the most dangerous work in the trade, and since 8 June 2026 Quebec's occupational health and safety regulation has required an arboriculture qualification certificate of the appropriate class for anyone performing arboriculture work in Quebec (APSAM, report au 8 juin 2026 (RSST art. 312.103), Québec, certificat en arboriculture (ARBO)). The CNESST additionally requires constant communication between the ground crew and the climber, and a tested aerial rescue procedure (CNESST, arboriculture et élagage). The SIAQ's TRAQ tree risk assessment qualification is particularly relevant after a storm (SIAQ, about certification). Insist on the CNESST compliance certificate and proof of liability insurance before anyone goes up the tree.

What to ask, even in an emergency. Do you have a crane or bucket truck available, and when. Does the price include tarping the roof. Does the quote separate making it safe, removal and clean-up. Who holds the arboriculture qualification certificate. May I see the CNESST certificate and proof of insurance. And be wary of crews going door to door the day after a storm asking for a cash deposit, which is the classic pattern after every major storm in this region.