Lightning + Fire = A Tense Morning!

Earlier in the week, the television weather reporters started letting us know that some big storms would be headed our way today.  Apparently the anticipated storms were enough to draw storm chasers from all over the Midwest to Iowa just for today's weather.  So we knew there could be some bad stuff going on today.  We just never expected what actually happened.

I was woken up in the early hours of the morning by lightning and thunder outside.  That's nothing new--I almost never sleep through thunder storms.  But between 5:30 and 6:00 am, the show outside was getting pretty intense.  There were a couple cracks of lightning and thunder that happened simultaneously, and sounded (and felt) like a fire cracker going off in our back yard.  I thought for sure some trees in the greenbelt behind us had been hit.

Dakota told me when I came downstairs later that our garage door wasn't working.  He said around 6am, a big bolt of lightning had hit very close to us.  He was in our laundry room, next to the garage and heard some noises in the garage after the hit.  He later found our garage door stuck open about a foot and a half and not responding to the garage door opener.  We didn't think too much of it after he was able to fix it.

But later that morning we noticed a fire truck pulling up in front of our next door neighbor's house.  As more emergency vehicles pulled up and the firemen suited up, curiousity got the better of us, and we headed outside for a look.

There was smoke coming out of the roof, and it was getting thicker the longer we stood there watching.  We found a large group of neighbors gathering and talking to the homeowner and his daughter, who both made it out safely.

They said all morning something hadn't seemed right in their house.  Their TV's weren't working, and they were having trouble with other electrical appliances.  Also, as the morning went on, they noticed a campfire-like smell growing stronger.  The daughter wasn't feeling well, so she went upstairs to lay down, while her father searched the house for the source of the smell.  By late morning, the daughter got on the phone with her mom, who was away for the weekend.  Her mom told her to call 911, which she then did, and not a moment too soon.

The suspicion is that lightening hit their house--probably the same bolt that messed up our garage door.  And it started something smoldering in the attic. 

Five fire trucks and a number of other emergency vehicles lined the entire street.

Firefighters went in and out of the house with masks and hoses and other tools for between and hour and an hour in a half.  Thick smoke poured from all parts of the roof, and the burning smell hung heavy in the air.  In the end, the damage done wasn't very visible from the outside of the house.  But from the burnt beams they carried out to the front yard, it was clear the damage inside was likely extensive.

We were glad that our neighbors were able to make it out unharmed, though we feel bad for them for the damage done to their house.

I'm thankful to God for His protection over us.  But it's scary how close to home this hit (literally), and how that just as easily could have been our house today.  I've been kind of on edge all day since then, smelling the smoke on my clothes and hair from time to time and worrying that it was coming from some part of my own house. 

We're supposed to get more storms redeveloping later tonight.  I don't think I'll be able to sleep until they've all completely passed.  It could be a long night!