Berks County gets its worst tree damage from two patterns: summer thunderstorms with sharp downbursts, and winter ice that loads every branch with several times its own weight. Both find the same weaknesses, and both are largely predictable if you look up in July instead of calling in October.
Start with deadwood. Dead limbs in the upper canopy have no flex left in them, so they're the first thing to come out in a gust — and they come out ballistic. Any dead branch bigger than your wrist over a driveway, a walkway, or a roof is worth removing on a calm day rather than a windy one.
Then look at unions. Where two trunks of similar size split off at a narrow V, especially with bark folded into the crotch, you're looking at the single most common failure point in a mature tree. Included bark unions split down the middle under load. They can often be cabled or weight-reduced, but they should not be ignored.
Third, walk the base. Soil heaving on one side, a gap opening between trunk and ground, or mushrooms and conks growing on the root flare all point to root or butt decay. A tree can look perfectly healthy in the canopy and still be losing its grip underground.
Fourth, look at what's over the house versus what's over the lawn. The same limb failing in two places is a mess in one and a claim in the other. Weight reduction and clearance pruning over structures is the cheapest storm insurance there is.
If a storm does get ahead of you, don't try to clear a hanger yourself and stay well clear of anything touching a wire. Call the utility for the line, then call us at (610) 698-5582 — anything on a structure or a vehicle goes to the front of our schedule.