DAVENPORT, Iowa — It was a blessing in action as Kevin Cross woke up on Sunday morning to a local tree company taking care of the massive problem in his backyard.
Squirrel's Tree Care, out of Rock Island, spent the morning cutting, bracing, sawing and removing a massive tree that had partially toppled in Cross's backyard. And they did it all, for free.
On July 15, a derecho and EF-1 tornado blew through Davenport. It left a trail of destruction, including a partial knockdown of Cross's tree. A large chunk of the tree fell across his backyard, fence and the street, narrowly missing three houses in the process. It knocked down wires and power for the neighborhood.
Cross was told he needed to get the tree cleared before city crews could restore the lines and bring power back to every house.
"So I was out there with a hand saw, trying to clean it up," Cross said.
As for the rest of the tree, it was precariously hanging, seemingly ready to split in two at any moment and slam down onto both Cross's house and his neighbor's.
The tree had been previously weakened during the 2020 derecho that swept across Iowa, damaging 4.5 million trees across the state and becoming the costliest severe thunderstorm event in U.S. history.
Despite knocking over part of Cross's tree then, he says his insurance company wouldn't help.
"We talked to our insurance company, made a claim and everything. But that never got fixed," Cross said. "We never heard nothing. But we're still paying Progressive."
Flash forward, four years later, and it was time for the tree to come down, once and for all. But Cross said he and his family couldn't afford it.
To even clean up the debris the tree left after the July 15 storm, some tree companies were quoting him several thousand dollars. That didn't include cutting down and disposing of the rest of it.
He said he reached out to his insurance as well as the City of Davenport but wasn't getting help from either.
For nearly a week, Cross says he and his family would stay on one side of the house, just in case the tree fully crashed down.
That's when Squirrel's Tree Care stepped in.
Owner Jon Steiniger is known for driving his crew hundreds of miles to help victims of hurricanes and tornadoes. They not only provide clean-up services to disaster-stricken areas, but they do it all for free. It's why he was one of WQAD's Jefferson Award Nominees in 2022.
Steiniger says when his crew saw the tree, they knew Cross and his family were in 'imminent danger.' The tree, Steiniger told News 8, was going to come down. It was just a matter of feeling a strong enough breeze.
"They were like, 'Look man, that's a hazard to you and your family' — which I've been saying for a while now," Cross said. "And they wanted to get it done. That's what makes them a good tree company. Them dudes care."
Steiniger and his crew rolled up with their giant crane truck and assistance from JT's Tree & Crane out of Effingham, Illinois. Together, they spent several hours clearing away debris, bracing the parts of the tree still standing, and carefully cutting and removing each piece.
"I told them I don't have the money, the insurance company isn't helping financially-- we can't afford this," Cross said. "And he was like 'Nah man, we're gonna get this done for you.'"
On top of that, once Steiniger found out Cross was unemployed, he offered him a job with Squirrel's.
"That man has blessed me. They gave me a chance," Cross said. "To be able to learn a new trade and pay for my family made my day. That was like a blessing. That's a stress relief. After all the storm, they say there's a pile of gold. At the end of the rainbow, that's my pot of gold."
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