You don't need to be an arborist to catch most of this. The qualities that makes a tree a real risk in a storm, you can see for yourself if you know what to look at.
What we look at.
Look at the tree, the roofline, and the ground around its base.
It's leaning more than it used to, or leaning at all when it never did. A new lean, even a slight one, means something's already shifting underneath, usually the roots, not the trunk.
Roots are pushed up out of the ground, or the soil around the base looks disturbed. Our sand doesn't hold roots the way heavier soil inland does, so exposed or heaved roots aren't cosmetic, that's the anchor loosening.
There's a noticeable amount of deadwood sitting in the canopy. One dead branch is normal. A tree that's got dead limbs scattered through it is telling you something about the whole tree, not just those branches.
A limb is already resting on or rubbing the roof. Wind can move that branch further than it looks like it should be able to.
The trunk's changed, a new crack, a split, bark peeling somewhere it hasn't before.
The ground around the base moved after the last storm, even though the tree's still standing. A tree that got rocked and didn't fall is more likely to go next time, not less.
If you're seeing more than one of these on the same tree, that's worth a second set of eyes before the next storm, not after.
Get ahead of the next storm.
Tell us about your property and what you have noticed. We will help you find the right next step.