Lightning Strikes

[mandysee_mandydo]

So the thunderstorm we had yesterday was pretty severe. Apparently there were several calls in Plymouth for lightning related incidents. The one that worried me the most was Town Hall. The belfry was struck, leaving a two-foot by two-foot hole in the roof. There was a small fire that was quickly contained. From what I understand, the equipment I brought over for the new channel is okay. Fortunately it was not plugged in yet. Also even more fortunate was that the usual people who stay late at Town Hall had other appointments and were out when the strike occured, so no one was hurt. There's a bunch of electrical, phone and computer issues that need to be resolved and some concern about the structural integrity of the bell tower.

Also, a hundred-year-old barn near downtown was struck and burned to the ground, but fortunately no one was injured there, either. Apparently there was a home in Plymouth, also, where lightning struck a well head, travelled into the home via the basement and struck a woman inside. She ended up going to the hospital but was okay from what I understand.

It's amazing the power of lightning.

Comments

[merrick42.livejournal.com]

Yeowch! Yeah, that's the thing about lightning. Riding on that edge of number of amps needed to kill a person. If you're lucky, you'll just get charred by the volts, but that little increase in pressure and then you're heart stops. A couple people and I were talking about things like this Sunday afternoon while the thunderstorms down here were going on.

[merrick42.livejournal.com]

And, apparantly the lightning and power surges set off a few of the sprinklers at PRHS. My mother, the librarian there, is on vacation this week but she didn't hear about any flooding in her area which is good. *chuckling*

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

Hey, I know you're parents! I didn't realize they were your parents. Cool! Fortunately for us, the sprinklers didn't go off at Town Hall. Then the damage would have been even worse!

[sk-brainstorm.livejournal.com]

-Damn! I was on mainstreet at the local bookstore getting ready to head home when the worst of it was going through town. I recall seeing a rather bright flash in front of me a few minutes after I got into my car, the loud rumble was about the same time as the flash.
-I noticed the large number of emergency vehicles moving through the center of town and I started to get a little concerned as what might be going on. I'm glad no one was seriously hurt, we've been getting some pretty strong storms as of late!

What was it Dr. Emmett Brown said?
"1.21 jigawats!? 1.21 jigawatts!?! Great Scott!"

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the storms have been pretty wild lately. I was discussing this with Kathy the other day. There was a cottage that on Newfound Lake near us that blw up when hit by lightning, then Town Hall, the barn on Winter Street, the strike on Clay Brook Drive, etc.

From what I understand Town Hall's front enterance is going to be closed for a few days until they can determine the extent of the damage. There's still the question of structural dmage to the bell tower. I understand they're going to have a structural engineer looking at it today.

[(Anonymous)]

Apparently Michelle was in her car on the corner to get onto Main street when the lightning struck the town hall. At first she thought it struck her car since it was so bright. It is good that out of that, no one was seriously injured.

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

I'm certainly thankful. Had they not moved the Selectboard meeting to Tuesday, it would have normally been held Monday night and several people would have been in Town Hall at the time preparing for the meeting, including me. I would have been playing with electrical dvices near the point of entry and exit. It didn't really hit me until last night when Judy at Town Hall brought up the point of the moved meeting.

It certainly put things in perspective!