At least you're okay, but you'll need to call an electrician to fix up any problems. There's no fire, right?

Absolutely yes, I want to get more of the kind that caught fire but still works, lol. It was expensive, but now that I know about this I guess it was worth the extra.

Yes, and being afraid if I touched them I'd be the next thing fried in the house - I was terrified, but put myself on the line to save my PC, and still couldn't get the plug out. It was like they were welded in till the lightning released everything - it seemed like it took forever before we could pull a plug.

That sounds like the heat welded them into the wall...

Gosh, mALX! That must have been terrifying indeed. I'm glad you guys, dogs and cats are okay. I hope you don't lose any of your appliances.

The microwave is shot, the toaster is not working anymore, don't think the air filter works anymore. Not sure about the airconditioners, they were all on when this happened. All the adapters were burning hot to the touch afterward, they may all need replaced.

I am so glad I brought the dogs in immediately when it started raining, because in the summertime I usually let them stay out in the rain if it isn't thunder or lightning and for some reason today I brought them in anyway.

What was the weirdest thing about this was that the cat shot across the house screaming and got under my son's bed BEFORE the lightning hit - through three hunting dogs! It was like somehow he knew it was coming before it hit. Next time I see him do that, I'll start unplugging before anything happens.

Just checked outside, we lost a huge Poplar tree, it hit the powerlines and is now blocking our driveway.

Well, we found out that Poplar tree is what got hit by the lightning. It landed on the power lines and pulled them out. They are still connected (we think) but very loosely - and are shooting arcs everywhere. The tree is blocking our driveway so we can't come and go, but I was worried my son may come home and try to walk around the fallen tree end up getting electrocuted - so told him not to come home till we call him.

He was at work when the storm hit, and the store he was in had the lights flicker and all the cash registers go out.




This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 9 2013, 11:42 PM

I wish our store power would go out...

Wait a minute, wait a minute. mALX, is...is the storm heading towards the easy coast?

Good that the tree didn't fall on the house. Bad that the powerlines were up where the tree could hit them.

Don't trust your power until they've checked it, if the tree's pulled the wires out of place. The symptoms you're describing make it appear that you still have voltage issues. Your computer will probably be all right, as the power supplies are voltage-sensing these days so they can run on 110v here or 250v in Europe, but they still prefer it steady!

mALX, that is...wow. I have no words.

On top of all that, if you don't already have one, perhaps a lightning rod would also be a good investment? Bless Ben Franklin for that mind!

My PC has a switch in the back I can flip that takes it from 115 to 240, and it had popped till it sat in the middle between the two - maybe that is why it survived the hit.





Doesn't help, the customers just steal more in the dark, and still try and make you check them out by hand with no registers working - then some bright guy might get the idea to hold up the place while the camera's are out.







It left here heading NNE, as if it was heading to Connecticut or something.


(just kidding). It did leave here going NNE, but turned around and came back though.






This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 10 2013, 12:05 AM

Okay. That scared me for a minute. I freaked out a second there, lol.

The lights keep flickering, and every time they do my son's fan blows like it has a Boeing 747 engine in it.

Watch yourself mALX. You got any ceiling fans?

Our house is grounded with a 6' metal rod stuck down into the ground. Is that a lightning rod? If it is a big metal rod that sticks up toward the sky, I'd have to stick one in my neighbors yard instead of mine. We live down in the valley, their house is up at the top of the ridge.

Two. I've got the one nearest me off, but if I know my husband his will be on. Why, will they blow off and come after us like propellors? I think my son's floor fan is about to, it keeps speeding up like it is going to take off and fly around the room.

My friend's house got struck by lightning once. The ceiling fan blew up and he ended up with a wooden shard in his leg...

First- mALX, I am glad you guys are OK. By really careful about ANY electrical appliances, especially big ones like washer/dryer, etc. Once upon a time when I was studying ot be a computer tech, the book we used got to the section on CRT monitors (the old chunky ones with the big picture tube). It said- in so many words-

"You are in NO WAY qualified to fool around with CRTs. The capacitor can store enough charge even in a unit that has been unplugged for months to KILL you."

So yeah- please get the breaker panel and etc checked. Have someone run a meter on the outlets- I BET they are putting out more than 120V. Most likely because the wires that got pulled are crossing each other and sending surges into your house.

Similar thing happened to my folks years ago- hickory tree came down and crossed the wires between the transformer and the house. It fried a bunch of small appliances.


Finally- not that I have the "why" at hand, but... poplar trees get hit by lightning a LOT. They almost seem to be Nature's lightning rods.

Did some additional reading- that last may not be strictly true... more anecdotal than scientific.


This post has been edited by treydog: Jun 10 2013, 01:08 AM