Lightning strike causes damage near local man’s home

Jimmy Blanks, a citizen of northern Heard County, was on his porch Saturday afternoon with his dog August 18 during a thunderstorm when he heard a loud noise that sounded in his words “like a cannon.”

Lightning had struck really close to his house and he feared it may have even struck the tin roof of his house. He was relieved to discover that it had not. The next day when he headed down to the creek behind his home (about 500 yards away) he discovered exactly where the lightning had struck.

Mr. Blanks had incurred some interesting damage to his make-shift campsite where he and his family go to relax on many occasions. The lightning had struck a large 80-100 foot poplar tree sending large shards of wood in several directions.

One piece of the tree destroyed a plastic lawn chair which was sitting near a tent about 90 feet away from the tree. The force of the strike also left many other pieces of the tree impaled into the ground in several other places, some sticking into the ground as much as a foot deep.

While surveying the damage, Blanks stated he was just glad the powerful force of nature didn’t cause any injuries to his family including his grandchildren who often spend recreational time in the wooded area near the creek.

“A lot of people immediately take cover under a tree during a lightning storm,”stated Blanks. “I hope this will encourage people to take better cover in a shelter if possible during a thunderstorm.”

According to scientists, a s bolt of lightning can contain up to one billion volts of electricity.