Lightning just hit right outside

[csziggy]

No wonder the cat came in complaining. Nasty thunderstorms moving in, little or no rain so far here, but LOTS and LOTS of lightning. The strike outside was close enough I heard the CRACK just before I saw the light. I wonder what tree it hit?

I think I will shut stuff off and go and comfort the cat.

[MFM008]

1. Don't go outside!

Stay safe with kitty.

[csziggy]

4. Stayed inside with computer and TV off

Cat went back out so I know it is safe. For a while the thunder was continuous - I'd see a lightning bolt but couldn't tell how far away it was because there was so much thunder. It wasn't severe enough to get a warning from the weather service. They sent out one the other day and we go no lightning, just a sprinkle, not enough to get anything damp.

[Girard442]

2. Comfort the cat. By hiding under the bed with it and clutching it. Been there.

[csziggy]

5. The cat has gone back out

With short trip back inside to yell at me about it being damp. It's my fault of course.

The power went off for a short time so I spent that time with the computer and everything off. Switched out the UPS for the TV and cable box. The old UPS had been damaged a while back but still provided some protection. I just picked up a new one last week so this was a good chance to get it out and change everything over.

Now that storm has moved on through, still some distant thundering but not the continuous rumbling we were having!

[FM123]

3. Please be careful fellow Floridian, we live in the lightning capital of the U.S.

[csziggy]

6. Yes, though it's not as bad up here as it was in the peninsula!

But I'm on top of a hill so any time there is much lightning we tend to get a strike. When I no longer hear any rumbling, I will go check on our trees. I expect we've had another one hit.

Here is the last tree that got hit up on top of the hill:


My husband is over six feet to give scale. There were splinters of oak and on big giant "toothpick" of wood blown all over the parking area for the barn, some bits over forty feet from the tree. That tree died and had to be cut down.

[FM123]

7. Wow!

[Callmecrazy]

8. Had a lot of lightning and rain here in Fort Lauderdale...

Some was hitting pretty close to where I was working (indoors).
I'm an electrician and had a close call a while back,https://www.democraticunderground.com/1018852144 , so I took an early break and waited for it to pass.
Sadly, about two weeks ago, a man was setting rebar in an open field and received a direct hit; it killed him and injured another man. I was working on a boomlift retrofitting some parking lot lights that day and got the hell outta there.

[csziggy]

10. Wow, Glad you are OK. Sorry to hear about the other man, though.

The closest I've ever been to getting struck was being outside on our hill and feeling my hair starting to stand up - that's happened a couple of times. I got inside immediately and while lightning did strike some trees, I never got hit.

I've written before about my great great grandfather getting hit by lightning - it traveled through some wiring, traveled through a picture frame, arced across the room, hit him and grounded through the plumbing. He'd been standing next to the sink with a knife resting on the pump handle. We still have the painting with the formerly gilt frame that has turned a silvery gray.

My Dad was also struck. He was on the top platform of a dredging barge when he was hit. He remembered a flash, then came to lying flat on the platform. No burns, no damage to him or to the barge.

[rurallib]

9. many years ago my neighbor's house directly across our 2-lane street

got hit by lightning. I was fully asleep with my eyes closed. I sat bolt upright in bed and thought I was looking into the sun, even with my eyes closed.
Of course the noise was frightening also.
By the time I was fully awake the fire department was there and putting the fire out.

I am sure you will join me in saying that was closer than you would ever want to be again.

[csziggy]

11. In 1982 when I was messing with our first computer, lightning hit a tree right outside

Just about deafening me and I had spots in front of my eyes for quite a while. I think the loud BOOM was more from the tree exploding a plank out of the side than from the thunder, though. When I went out the next morning, there was a piece of wood about 10 feet long, 10 inches x 2 inches at the thickest point that had been blown out of the trunk of the mature loblolly pine.

Then the same thing happened a few years back to an oak further away from the house - I posted a picture upthread. The piece of wood was not as big, but neither was the tree. Plus oaks don't have the same volatile sap that pines do!

Yeah, I do not EVER want to be close to lightning!

[Special Prosciuto]

12. I got out of my car in driving rain in my parking lot and a bolt struck so close

I felt the flash of heat on my face. Opening my door, I smelled plastic burning. It was the kitchen telephone melting. Never be on a landline phone in a T-storm.

[csziggy]

13. Whoa - that is way too close!

And I've known forever to never be on a landline in a storm. As a child when that was all we had, it was a given. MAybe if they convert to fiber optic here, as they've been talking about, it won't as big a worry.

Another caution - don't take a shower during a thunderstorm if you have metal pipes. Locally a number of years ago a woman was seriously injured while doing that.

In this house, I don't worry - we have plastic pipes.

[NYResister]

16. Be careful when washing dishes as well.

My grandmother was struck (survived) while washing silverware.

[csziggy]

20. See my message #10 above

Family story written out by my grandmother. Her grandfather had just used his pocket knife to open a letter and had the blade of the knife resting on the pump handle at the kitchen sink. That grounded him and probably saved his life. The letter was blown to shreds.

I feel pretty safe in this house - it's sort of like a Faraday cage. It's concrete walls with lots of rebar topped by a metal roof. The only metal coming in from outside is our phone/DSL lines and the electrical lines, both sets of which go through a whole house surge suppressor. I still won't talk on the landline during a storm.

[NYResister]

22. lol

I won't talk on a landline, and I wont shower, do dishes, or anything involving water.

And when we are tent camping, I choose to sit in the safety of my car.

[Special Prosciuto]

18. That was 1989. When I looked it up, quickly of course, 2 to 3 people were

killed by lightning on the phone yearly in the US.

[Stuart G]

14. In 1973..I was driving across Nebraska..everybody was getting off the highway because

of a very nasty storm ahead...but I drove on..I recall thinking what the hell is the problem..haven't they ever driven in the rain?...

Half an hour later, lightening struck my car while I was going about 60mph. It jumped across the hood, the radio went off for a half a second or so, and it was grounded..(the tires grounded it)..nothing happened to me, and everything was ok, but..........the car continued as it was but the driver, (me) was kinda shocked..

...about a half hour later....I had to stop and have a piece of cake and a cup of coffee..and think it over..I am sure you know what I am talking about.....

[csziggy]

17. Oh, man, that would have freaked me out!

Yeah, I know what you mean.

[NYResister]

15. Cats are so much fun.

I have two. The oldest one is petrified by thunder. He hides in my closet when we get storms.

[csziggy]

19. My cat is very demanding especially now that he is getting older

He's always blamed me for the weather. If it's raining outside he'll go from door to door yelling at me when it is still raining at the next door. Then he will usually go back to the first door, go out and yell at me while he is getting wet. This, despite him having his own cat door.

As today, if he is outside and it starts raining, he will come inside and yell at me. Or if he is on a side of the house away from his door he will stand on the front porch or in the carport and yell. Since he is part Siamese, he has a very loud yell.

He's not afraid of the storms so much as he doesn't want to get wet.

[NYResister]

21. hahahahaha, my cats do the same thing.

They ask to look out each door, and are ticked off at me if the weather is bad.

I had one cat, a female, who was the only cat I've ever had that didn't care about getting wet. She would literally swim through swampy areas in search of moles. She was a feral rescue, so maybe that played a part.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. It's not just where you are, we've been having thunderstorms and torrential rains here in NY

My friend couldn't get home because flooding washed away both roads that led to her house. Stay safe! And bring in your cat. My dog doesn't seem to be bothered too much, but my cat gets very anxious.

[csziggy]

24. See the thread I am about to write - bad news. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

25. I am so very sorry!