A Summary of Yesterday (including pictures)

The weather indeed became active yesterday as expected. One of the most intense lightning storms in a while occurred early on during the day, knocking out power to thousands across the area.

In addition, some house fires as a result of lightning strikes occurred. One notable house fire happened not too far away from my location. Nobody was injured, but damage to the home was substantial.

I visited with the homeowner yesterday and he did give me permission to post pictures of the damage (I normally like to ask because someone's misfortune should not become another person's 'oooh-look-what-I-saw' and 'what-an-awesome-picture-I-took' kind of thing).

First, the limb that was struck by lightning, blew the bark right off. Parts of the limb did cause some structural damage to the home.

Next, here is a shot of the tree from where the limb was attached...

I did suggest to the homeowner to have the tree inspected by an arborist or perhaps by a tree company to determine if the entire tree is still safe to stand.

And finally, a picture from the back of the house, where an addition was severely damaged.

Again, thanks to the homeowner for letting me investigate the lightning damage during an especially hectic and busy day for him and his family (including pets, which are safe by the way).

MS