ATLANTA — Friday morning, Helene arrived in Atlanta as a tropical storm. It brought widespread flooding, causing power outages throughout the city, killing 15 people statewide, according to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Hurricane Helene moved into Georgia after midnight and was downgraded to a tropical storm around 5 a.m. It has battered south and central Georgia, and as the path to recovery begins, residents are now forced to pick up the pieces and start rebuilding their homes.
But with that comes a few important questions: Who is responsible for paying for storm damage caused by downed trees? There are a couple of possibilities.
Who is responsible for paying for Helene's storm damage caused by fallen trees?
Many homes that stood in the path of destruction from Helene on Friday were damaged by collapsed and uprooted trees. If you happen to be one of those residents, you may be wondering who is responsible to pay for the damage.
Here's what Georgia law states.
Georgia's Fallen Tree Responsibility laws:
If a tree falls on someone's property, it is usually that property owner, not the tree's owner, who is then responsible for any property damage sustained to the home or land. Additionally, they are also responsible for paying for that tree to be hauled away.
There is an important exception, however:
If a tree falls from a neighbor's property onto your own property and causes damage or injures somebody, if the neighbor had reasonable knowledge that the tree was dead or diseased based on either "visible signs that the tree was dead or had a disease" such as no bark or leaves in the summertime, OR "if the owner of the tree received written notice ... that there was a problem with the tree before it fell" -- then the property owner that the tree resided on would likely be responsible for paying for any and all damages to the neighboring property impacted.
In summary:
If your neighbor did not reasonably know there was a problem with the tree before it fell, then you are responsible for paying for the damages. You are not responsible, however, for cleaning up any debris on your neighbor's property.
For any questions surrounding Georgia's law, you can see how it's explained at the website here.
