Cary, N.C. - HMI announced that companies from its Authorized Member (AM) Network provided over 100 tree crews to assist homeowners in recovering from the effects of Hurricane Irene. Several AMs contributed crews including (listed alphabetically) Arborist Enterprises, Arbor Masters, Bartlett Tree Experts, Caldwell Tree Care, Cicoria Tree, CW Arborists, Davey, Grimshaw Tree, RTEC, SavATree, Tamke Tree Experts, The Care of Trees, among others, and HMI responded to over 1500 requests for emergency tree removals in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

In addition, 15 crews were deployed under HMI's First Responder Program (FRP) to work exclusively for policy holders of one of the nation's largest insurance companies. HMI's FRP provides its insurance clients with dedicated tree removal resources.  It also offers its AMs an efficient way to deploy into a disaster zone as their mobilization costs are covered and work on-site is streamed directly to the field by the insurance carrier.

"Even before Irene hit, we were asked to deploy crews all along the East Coast in preparation for this major event," said Doug Malawsky, executive vice president and COO of HMI. "Our AMs and affiliates performed amazingly and generated over $2,000,000 in work. We received over 1500 calls during the course of the first few days following the hurricane and our network once again proved to the insurance industry the value of working with professional and qualified tree care companies."

Members of HMI's AM Network provide property owners with risk mitigation services, tree repair and replacement services and all other services related to tree claims and tree damage recovery. HMI also offers treeShield^® as an innovative new service available exclusively through its AM Network. treeShield^® is a Service Warranty that AMs can sell to property owners to aid with post-storm cleanup and recovery. treeShield^® protects property owners from the cost of tree removal, tree debris removal, hazard tree/limb removal, as well as restoration services (restorative pruning, cabling, etc.).

HMI is the only national provider of comprehensive insurance claim support and other services involving trees and landscaping. HMI's services include emergency tree removals; standardized health inspections and average replacement costs, proof and cause of loss analyses as well as cost estimates for tree removal and repair. HMI established its Authorized Member (AM) network to ensure professional, quality services are available nationwide to insurance organizations, commercial businesses and residential property owners. HMI also developed the treeShield^® Service Warranty that the company's AMs can sell to property owners to aid with post-storm cleanup and recovery. treeShield^® protects property owners from the cost of tree removal, tree debris removal, hazard tree/limb removal, as well as restoration services (restorative pruning, cabling, etc.). For more information, please visit HMI's web site www.HMIadvantage.com or call (866) 937-6468.

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