Thunderbolt & lightning/ Very very frightening, me/ Galileo!
I've never been afraid of storms. I know I should be, but whenever I see the weather people warning about big storms approaching, I really don't panic. At all. No matter how much the weather men try to get everyone freaked out about an impending storm, I don't worry about them. I know that I probably should, but I guess I just wasn't born with that gene.
And it's not because I've never seen "real" storms, either. I've seen tornadoes, lived through a few hurricanes, and witnessed one of the largest hail storms in U.S. history. (That hail storm was interesting -- it made our roof look like Swiss cheese and totaled my car.)
Sunday morning's storm was unique for me, though. At exactly 2:34 a.m., lightning hit very close to our house (one electrician who came to the house believes it actually hit the house). I know it's a cliche, but it literally sounded like a bomb went off in our front yard. The entire house shook for a couple of seconds, and a few doors were knocked open by the impact.
At the exact moment that the lightning hit, our phone rang. Sadly, it was the last time that phone ever rang -- it was completely fried by the lightning.
Of all the electrical appliances and devices in our home, these are the ones we lost:
- all of our phones
- our cable modem (the cable guy said that every component of the modem was FUBAR)
- our stereo receiver (but not the CD player, TV, DVD player, or turntable which were plugged into the same surge protector)
- our garbage disposal
- both garage door openers (not the remotes...the devices that actually open the doors)
Our homeowner's policy has a $1,000 deductible, so it won't even be worth filing a claim for these items. So...you can guess what we're spending our government checks on.
As annoying as this whole thing has been, I'm extremely thankful that it wasn't worse. Even for a house that's properly grounded, taking a direct lightning strike can be bad. All in all, we came through it OK. Most importantly, no one was hurt (although our dog's nerves were pretty rattled for a few hours).
Now I'm wondering how I'll react when I hear about another storm coming. Will I shrug it off as usual, or run around the house frantically unplugging everything? Considering Alabama's weather, I'm sure I'll find out soon.
And it's not because I've never seen "real" storms, either. I've seen tornadoes, lived through a few hurricanes, and witnessed one of the largest hail storms in U.S. history. (That hail storm was interesting -- it made our roof look like Swiss cheese and totaled my car.)
Sunday morning's storm was unique for me, though. At exactly 2:34 a.m., lightning hit very close to our house (one electrician who came to the house believes it actually hit the house). I know it's a cliche, but it literally sounded like a bomb went off in our front yard. The entire house shook for a couple of seconds, and a few doors were knocked open by the impact.
At the exact moment that the lightning hit, our phone rang. Sadly, it was the last time that phone ever rang -- it was completely fried by the lightning.
Of all the electrical appliances and devices in our home, these are the ones we lost:
- all of our phones
- our cable modem (the cable guy said that every component of the modem was FUBAR)
- our stereo receiver (but not the CD player, TV, DVD player, or turntable which were plugged into the same surge protector)
- our garbage disposal
- both garage door openers (not the remotes...the devices that actually open the doors)
Our homeowner's policy has a $1,000 deductible, so it won't even be worth filing a claim for these items. So...you can guess what we're spending our government checks on.
As annoying as this whole thing has been, I'm extremely thankful that it wasn't worse. Even for a house that's properly grounded, taking a direct lightning strike can be bad. All in all, we came through it OK. Most importantly, no one was hurt (although our dog's nerves were pretty rattled for a few hours).
Now I'm wondering how I'll react when I hear about another storm coming. Will I shrug it off as usual, or run around the house frantically unplugging everything? Considering Alabama's weather, I'm sure I'll find out soon.