Tree Removal in Corpus Christi, TX

When a tree has to come down in Corpus Christi, the tree itself is often the simple part. The harder questions are who owns the wire it is near, which policy pays if wind put it on your roof, and when the city will take the brush. These pages answer those from city, state and National Weather Service sources. We connect homeowners with local tree companies. The tree work itself is theirs, not ours.

Wind is the local story

Hurricane Celia came ashore near Aransas Pass on August 3, 1970. The National Weather Service logged a 161 mph gust at its Corpus Christi office, and 70 percent of residences in the city took some damage. Dr. Robert Simpson described "a succession of long streaks of heavy damage", with some homes untouched in the worst areas. In 2017 Harvey's eye landed about 30 miles northeast of the city. Most damage here was minor compared with Rockport, and the weather service still counted "a significant number of trees, fences and power poles down or damaged" across the metro area.

That changes how you look at your own yard. Damage here runs in patches, so a clean lot next door tells you little about the big tree behind your garage. The after a storm page covers the first steps, and the hurricane season page covers what to do while the weather is calm.

What the job involves

How a tree comes down depends mostly on what sits under it. With clear ground where it would land, a crew may fell it in one go or in large sections. When it leans over a roof, a fence or a wire, expect it to be taken down from the crown, a section at a time, by someone roped into the tree or up in a lift. A big one in a tight spot may take a crane.

Ask early about the parts people forget. Is the stump in the quote? Does the brush leave with the crew, or wait for the city's heavy brush pickup, which runs on set-out dates for each section of town? If your service wire passes through the branches, AEP Texas asks for at least two business days' notice so a crew can disconnect it.

Not every beaten-up tree has to go

Texas A&M Forest Service warns that after a storm "hasty decisions can often result in removing trees that could have been saved". A split trunk is the clear case for removal. A lost limb often is not. The city is also short of water, with Stage 1 drought restrictions in effect when we read the page, and falling leaves alone do not prove a tree is dead. The trim or remove page goes through how to tell.

Where you live changes some of this

The city's planning office splits Corpus Christi into areas including Flour Bluff, Padre/Mustang Island, North Beach, Southside, Westside, London, Northwest and Bayside. The storm, wire and insurance notes fit all of them. The brush rules and the transfer station are city services, and the station asks for a driver's license with an address inside the city limits. If you live outside the limits, in Robstown or Portland for example, check with your own city or the county.

Pick what you need

• Power linesAEP's lines and yours, who handles what, and what the numbers are for.
• After a stormWho to call, what past storms did here, photos first, and whether it can be saved.
• Windstorm insuranceHome policy or TWIA, what they say about fallen trees, and roof repair inspections.
• Brush and debrisSet-out dates, pile limits, where brush cannot go, and the transfer station.
• Trim or removeDrought, salt water, wind and decay, and how to tell them apart.
• Hurricane seasonWhen to prune oaks, what to ask for, and trees that do well on this coast.
• City rulesPermits and the right-of-way: what the city's pages say and what stays open.
• Questions to askAEP, adjusters, brush, 811 and payment, settled in writing before anyone starts.

Not for emergencies

Anyone hurt, or a tree on a wire or a house: call 911 or the utility before anything else. This site cannot send anyone.