Lightning Is Not Your Friend

We had a front creep through, some thunderstorms, but nothing severe. As the storms subsided, and the rain let up, lightning struck close enough where the flash, and sound, were simultaneous. A step out on the porch showed the security light was out. The television, which will sometime turn off when lightning strikes close went off. The lights didn't flicker. 

My nephew lives across the road, and he soon drove up with his wife to check on me and my wife. He stated they saw sparks falling after the strike, and thought our house was hit. I noticed something in the yard under the security light, and went to investigate. 

Apparently, lightning struck the fixture, and the high current blew the top cover off the fixture when the insides instantly blew apart. Examination of the roof, around the yard, and the service drop didn't show any damage, which gave me some relief. I was concerned lightning struck the roof, and there was fire in the overhead. 

 

When the lightning struck, we were watching a DVD, so when we turned the television back on, everything was working. That was a relief, but examining the bedrooms showed the televisions would not turn on. To make things worse, when we switched to satellite to watch, it's out too.  

The security light is on a service pole is less than twenty feet from my house, so the strike was as close as it can get without striking the house. Too close for me, but far enough I thank God it didn't hit the house. That, and the lightning went to ground through the provider's grounding system instead of through the wiring in my house. 

So, tomorrow will require a call to the satellite provider, a trip to the box store for two televisions, and the hope none of it will cost too much. My feeling is that the damage will be below my deductible, and calling the insurance company a waste of time.