Posted on 05/27/2017 12:13:33 PM PDT by MtnClimber
I have a coworker who was struck by lightening. He was a cameraman for sporting events. At a football game, rain had just started. He was walking down the field at the sidelines, when...
He said it was like just walking, then his consciousness powered down, like a computer. He didn’t see, hear or feel anything.
When he came to, he was lying on the field surrounded by paramedics. His first words were “Don’t take me to the hospital, my wife will find out! She’ll worry herself to death!”
Near-miss in 2001 while walking to a hunting stand. Hit a mesquite tree 50 or so yards ahead, blue dots and ringing ears and a smoldering chunk of mesquite right at my feet. Hardly a cloud in the sky. Titanium bow and carbon arrows may be the death of me one fine day.
Near-miss in 2001 while walking to a hunting stand. Hit a mesquite tree 50 or so yards ahead, blue dots and ringing ears and a smoldering chunk of mesquite right at my feet. Hardly a cloud in the sky. Titanium bow and carbon arrows may be the death of me one fine day.
So much for wearing clean underwear in case you’re in an accident.
My father-in-law was hit by lightning when he was a little kid while standing under the eaves of his school house in the early 1930s.
“Clear Air Lightning” — the proverbial “bolt out of the blue.” It’s not that uncommon for lightning to travel far from its originating cloud. In some cases, bolts have struck as much as 25 miles from where they originated.
very sad. seems he was a strong and courageous man to have come through polio and be raising family. that had to be rough for you and family.
A lot of Arizonans have been in a situation similar to Jaime Santana’s minus the lightening strike. The summer thunderstorms come up so fast and bring a lot of lightning with them. I used to sit in my house in Oracle and watch the lightening play over the Galiuro Mountains across the San Pedro River Valley. Beautiful and awe inspiring sight.
That’s what he gets for driving a Corvair.
Oh, my Lord, I am so sorry this happened to you.
Thanks for the info. I’ll read up on that.
It was definitely a terrifying experience.
I lived in the White Mountains the Fall of ‘75 and into early Summer ‘76. I’ve never seen anything like the daily mountain thunderstorms rolling in every day around 2 - 3 PM, last 30 or 40 minutes, and quickly blow over. Torrential rains, lightning and thunder. As you say, beautiful and awe inspiring.
Last Saturday into Sunday I was on call and got a call out for an emergency utility locate for a busted water main. There was a pine tree about 50ft from the main that had the telltale sign of a lightening strike down the side of the tree not to mention that half the roots were blown out of the ground. The strike blew a 12ft section of the main to shreds. There were pieces of the main on the opposite side of the road. There was also an AT&T pedestal nearby that I could no longer find. The phone drop that ran from the ped about 500ft to a church was fried, there was a large scorch mark and melted plastic on the side of the church where the interface box was.
Made some good money that weekend with 27 straight hours on the clock.
‘About a year ago, I was outside. It was mostly sunny with just a few clouds. Then, suddenly came a bright flash and a tremendous boom. Scared the living daylights out of me. At first, I thought we had been nuked.’
30+ years ago the same thing happened to me. I was about to leave the basement garage carrying a large metal pry bar to rip out old fence posts at the top of a hill behind the house. Blue sky, few clouds then BOOM!
This was a point in my life where I think God was trying to get my attention.
Another close call with lightning was when I was a kid canoeing a river in FL with sever other folks. We reached a water hyacinth clog and had pull our canoes through the water along the bank.
I was the last boat and still in it when a bolt struck the pasture on the opposite bank. Everyone in the water got shocked and squealing and fetching about. The boat I was in was aluminum and I didn’t feel a thing—weird.
A buddy had his watch’s hands spin around and the dial glowed green then died.
One other time was when a group of us were bushwhacking through some Shenandoah mountains when a blow came up. We halted in what we thought was a safe spot to ride it out.
Lighting struck down the ridge from us and traveled up an old barbed wire fence about 10’ away. Everywhere the wire was stapled to the posts crackled and popped sparks.
Wow, that is incredible energy to do that much damage!
I saw lightning strike a small tree across the street from me. It blew the leaves off like you blowing on a dandelion.
My sister lost 2 computers to 2 separate lightning strikes over the years. One was across the street and the electricity went threw her phone line, up the stairs to the 2nd floor and zapped her combo printer/scanner and the pc. The scanner was going back and forth on it’s own after that. The phone line was melted. The 2nd hit the neighbors tree in the back yard and zapped her pc. I tell her it is because she is evil and someone above is out to get her.
Wow. You had some close calls. I would bet that you have a healthy respect for lightning.
Being born and raised in Alabama, I have experienced many lightning storms. But, that “out of the blue” lightning was a new experience.
I hope I never experience that again. That experience was terrifying to the point that I had to take another heart pill. I was standing under some trees when it happened.
God may have been trying to get my attention too. If so, he succeeded. I’m thankful that I wasn’t struck.
I hate lightning.
That is really sad. It must have been so traumatic. I’m sorry.
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