Thursday Weather and Near Death Experiences

On Thursday, Mikro and I walked out the front door to get in the car and pick up Kev at the train station. It was threatening rain and there was severe weather predicted for the evening, but nothing had happened so far. We were standing on the concrete step in front of our house as I fiddled with my car keys to beep the doors open when we the sky went nearly black and we heard a massive crack. There was a spark overhead by the corner of the house (about 6 feet away) and then some power lines whipped by over our heads and into the street.

A huge hunk of tree had come down across the street, whether from wind or lightning I can't say, and I thought it had ripped the electrical service and other utility lines from the side of my house.

Turns out, the half a tree had fallen into the high tension 13,000 volt lines at the top of the pole, and that is what whipped over our heads. We got very lucky.

So did my next door neighbors, who were driving down the street at the moment the tree came down. Six feet more and their car would have been crushed.

A very scary experience.