It was a rude awakening early Friday morning for a Mitchell, Man. couple.
Doug Waterson and his wife were woken up around 7 a.m. by the sound of lightning striking their home.
“It just lifted us right out of bed. It was the biggest explosion I’ve ever heard. The whole room lit up,” said Doug Waterson.
The couple got out of bed to investigate what exactly happened. Peering out the window, Waterson said everything looked fine, but his wife could smell smoke. After opening the bedroom door, they saw thick smoke in their home and immediately dialed 911.
It turns out, the lightning struck a defunct TV tower on top of their home.
Waterson said, “It fried a lot of our electronics in the house, like the TV and Bell boxes, and the coffee maker, and the garage door opener, a lot, you know. We’re finding things every day that got fried when the lightning hit.”
Overheated wires formed a black path down walls inside the home. The lightning strike also caused a window to break, and managed to put a hole in the roof.
The cost of the damage is unknown at this time, and the Watersons do have insurance.
The couple feels lucky it wasn’t worse, and said the TV tower will definitely be coming down.
