Where NOT to be...

Ok, I admit it. I rarely cower in the corner when a lightning storm goes by. Rather, I am probably more fascinated by it than I should be and with all my fancy electrical engineering knowledge, I just assume that I will know to watch out for my hair standing up on my head just prior to a strike so I can drop down to the ground at the last minute.

Yeah yeah, that's all good in theory but when the real thing comes around, it can really change your perspective...

Well, this afternoon, I had just a few hours between getting home from lunch and evening services at worship so I thought, hey, I'll just try to go ahead and get the yard mowed since the pickup for trash is tomorrow morning early and I really hate for the grass to sit around for a week if I don't make tomorrow's pickup. Well, the forecast was for rain today but none of that stuff seemed to be forthcoming, so I decided to drag out the mower.

It had been beautiful, breezy and bright when we got home from lunch but by the time I got the mower out and fueled up, I discovered that a black cloud was moving in. I can't say it looked like anything unusual and not really one of the heavier types either. Just a typical cloud though it was a good sized one. So far, though pretty dark in color, it was otherwise behaving itself with little thought of lightning nor rain.

So, I jumped in my indy car mower and began cutting the front lawn as fast as I could so that maybe I could get the front yard done before any real rain moved in. Well, I had just finished the front and was cutting the east side that goes back to the gate to our backyard when the rain started up. It was light at first and I thought "hey, as long as it doesn't get heavier than this and as long as the yard isn't too wet, I'll just keep going. I'm gonna need a bath anyway!".

Well, no sooner had I thought that but a lighning bolt came down some considerable distance from me to the southeast. There was the usual and reasonable delay in the report reaching my ears from the time I saw the flash so I said "hey, it's still miles away but I should probably move the mower to the front of the garage until this passes".

As fate would have it, as I started to move the mower to the garage front (which was closed), the heavier rain came in - along with some heavier and louder lightning. It seemed prudent not to leave everything in a pretty good rain, so I opened the garage door and drug it all inside out of the drips.

I stood there a few moments about six feet inside the garage watching the rain get heavier and heavier. Bigger and bigger drops were coming down now and really kerplunking off the Rendezvous and Dodge mini-van parked in the drive. The splashes got bigger and it soon became obvious to me that I would not be taking the mower back out today. So, I began re-arranging all the yard implements to put the mower back in place where it sleeps between jobs.

As I looked toward the front of the garage and the houses across the street, I was quite surprised to see a lightning bolt come down right before my very eyes! Fortunately for me, the object of its attention was not me nor the houses directly across the street but unfortunately for the occupants, it was determined to blast the house on the next street over (of which I have a very clear view between the houses across the street from me).

The bolt came down blue and bright and it struck the chimney with dead-hit accuracy and the report from the blast, instead of being the usual comfortable rumble that takes some several seconds to reach my ears, was an immediate and sharp cracking WHOOM!. As best I can describe it, you would probably compare it to standing about ten feet from a fellow who is firing a twelve-gauge shotgun and you have no hearing protection. It was incredibly loud and it happened all so fast, that I didn't even have time to jump.... I just stood there and watched.

The lightning was of course dissipated in an instant but the next several seconds were vivid. I watched as the entire side of the chimney on the south side of the house was blown out of the side of the chimney! That's right, two sections of chimney wall, about two and one-half feet wide and about three feet tall fell right out of the side. They tumbled off the side of the roof into the yard below and something resembling smoke or steam was left circulating in the air above the chimney.

To my wondering eyes, what had been a solid chimney that looks just like ours outside, was now showing its insides to the world. You could see where the bricks had been blown away and in fact, the clay flue liner was broken too with only the upper portion remaining. I guess the lower portion must have either fallen down into the chimney or blown out with the wall.

I got in my car and drove over to that neighbor's house to see if they were ok. Another neighbor had arrived too with intent to check on the occupants. The lady who came out the front door knew it had been close to her home but did not realize it had struck her home because she said electrical things inside "seemed to be working". Of course we all know that it can take days for electrical damage to show up from a lightning hit sometimes. So, the other neighbor and I explained to her that her chimney had been struck and the entire south upper wall of the chimney was now laying in her backyard. We walked around to take a look at it. There were two massive sections of bricks laying in the side yard and they had missed her air conditioner (which was still running amazingly enough) by only a couple of feet.

I suggested to her that it would be wise to call the fire department and have them check out the chimney above the roof and inside the attic to be sure nothing was smoldering. She went inside to call the fire department and I and the other neighbor headed home. A few moments later, I heard the fire department on its way to the lady's house.

First, here's a picture of the house from my garage so you can see how close it is to my home. It's the house in the background just to the left and behind the dark green tree. Look at the chimney closely.


Then, here's a closeup picture of the chimney after the blast. As you can see, the entire south side of the chimney is now gone. The fireman in the picture is inspecting for residual problems. He tugged on the east side wall in front of him several times to make certain it was still securely attached to the chimney. He removed many loose bricks and pieces of masonry and tossed them to the ground:


Last, the fireman is seen leaving the rooftop after inspecting the chimney...



Last, another close-up of the chimney....



Wow! Some excitement huh?

Here's the moral of the story boys and girls. We take it for granted that lightning is always something in the "distance". It won't hit US! Well, that's not true. If you hear lightning approaching your home, turn off and unplug expensive toys (way ahead of its arrival if possible), then stay WAY AWAY from any windows. You will NOT have time to avoid the strike if it comes down near you and it packs a WALLOP! Look at these pictures again if you doubt that. I, for one, will not be standing in the garage watching the next time an electrical storm comes along!

Well, I thank our Heavenly Father that no one was hurt and with some brick-work I'm sure the lady's home can be restored to normal. She was very lucky it did not set her roof ablaze.

So, stay safe and don't think it won't happen to you.... because it just might if you aren't careful to stay out of its way!

Love to all,

JR

p.s. - another electrical storm is on its way... so BYE!!!!!