Well, here I was yesterday, sitting on the couch working on my GFG just before lunch during a thunder storm, when an almighty blast and huge flash just outside our living room window!! The electricity blew- I jumped out of my skin-sewing box on my lap went flying-DH yelled "a tree's on fire" and ran down the stairs to get the hose to put it out. Luckily, it hit a coconut palm which was lush and green, so it was contained (it was only a few feet from the house). The bolt of lightening hit the tree, hit the sidewalk next to the house and took an huge chunk out of it, bolts chewed paths in the grass from the tree base to the sidewalk, and fried the telephone lines in to the house-the main box on the other side of the house blew off and burned the wires. Then we discovered it also ruptured a hot water pipe, so a downstairs room was flooding. The repairmen came pretty quick, eventually got the water pipe fixed (after 3 hours of jack-hammering concrete to get to it!!), the electric guys were there until way after dark last night, trying to get us some power so we at least had some lights and fans, and were back early this morning. At lunch today, they still didn't have it sorted. We have no phones (olr internet) and the phone guys say there are many places they have to sort out before they get to us!! I have never been so scared-and living here for 19 years, we have had pleanty of lightening and thunder storms, just NEVER had a bolt hit so close!!! I shook for hours after!!

Glad everyone is alright. House can be fixed up back to new.

Wow! How scary! We have 3 lightening rods out our backdoor and we still got hit one year! Is scary! Only hit our modem thankgoodness but that flash was freaky! Good think for lightening rods!

We are thankful that all of you are safe :)

I love to sit outside during thunder and lightning storms particularly at night. we have had a few close calls the phone line went once but I had already unplugged anything that could get damaged.
but you had a really close call i am glad no one was hurt except your house at least that can be fixed

praise the Lord your all ok.... so very scary. Back in Missouri when grandma was growing up a lightening bolt actually got into the house and went on out. Yours must have been some kind of hit it did so much damage. (((hugs))))

Glad you are O.K. Could have been so much worse. :-)

Wow, very scary. We were at the breakfast table one morning and it was still dark outside. We happen to look out the front window and watch a lightening bolt come down and split our tree right down the middle. I still don't understand how it didn't catch on fire. I am sure the rain helped with that. The tree is split from top to ground BUT we left it alone and it survived. Everyone kept telling us to cut it down but we wanted to give it a chance to heal. And it did. That was 2 years ago and it has fully recovered other than the split down it. Crazy huh?

Just thought I would share my scary story. Because I had to take the kids out for the bus 20 minutes after that :) I was very scared to go outside.

Super glad you are all ok and hopefully your homeowners insurance will reimburse you for all of the damage. :)

Glad your ok. Hope you can settle down now.

Back in 1996 a sudden storm popped up. We had a 3 story house & DH & I had gone down to the basement bedroom to wake up DH along with our basset hound Princess. He had just woke up when the lightening hit the tv on the main floor & somehow it traveled across the floor & hit the ceiling fan (in the basement bedroom), struck my knee & hit DH. The room was pure white & we were on our hands & knees crawling out of that room screaming & crying along with Princess. Poor Princess was never the same. She could smell the storms coming & would shake something fierce. We both feel lucky to have survived that!