Clifton Springs couple’s close call after home hit by lightning

As more storms lash the region, a Clifton Springs couple has recalled the moment their house was struck by lightning.

Lightning recently struck the Clifton Springs Dean and Mel Kirkright. Picture: Mark Wilson.

A Clifton Springs couple has described the remarkable moment their home was struck by lightning during last week’s wild weather.

Dean Kirkright and his wife, Mel, never expected their house would find itself in the path of nature’s fury.

Mrs Kirkright was home with their daughter on Wednesday afternoon, awaiting a delivery of plants when the house suddenly shook.

“I saw a flash of light out the window and at the same time the loudest thing I’d ever heard,” she said.

“The house shook … I realised lightning had struck, I didn’t realise it was our house.”

The couple weren’t the only ones in the area to feel a shock, with others reporting shaken houses, burning smells and blown out electrical sockets.

After checking on her daughter, Mrs Kirkright went outside to check on the delivery man.

“The first thought is you’re not meant to be outside when there’s a storm,” she said.

The delivery man was fine, he’d been unloading plants from his van at the time, but a neighbour of the couple ran onto her balcony and informed them the house had been hit.

“I thought it was just an electrical pole in our street or something because the power had gone out,” Mrs Kirkright said.

“I didn’t think it was our house.”

The couple’s neighbour, Anita, was cleaning upstairs, about 20m away from the lightning strike.

She said there was a “flash and a bang all at once”, and when she looked up she saw bolt of lightning above the couple's’ home, around the TV aerial.

“It scared the bejeezus out of me,” Anita said.

“It almost seemed to curve up at the last moment … if it didn’t hit their house directly, it was close, within millimetres.”

“The dogs went mental … within a few seconds the power had flicked back on (for us).”

However, the couple weren’t so lucky, their power took longer to be restored.

There was no visible damage, but the pair’s TV – which sits roughly under the aerial – was dead.

“There’s no damage to the house, except the TV doesn’t work anymore,” Mr Kirkright said.

Mr Kirkright said they were grateful the worst of the incident was the TV getting “fried”.

“When I found out (that it was just the TV) I was actually really happy,” Mr Kirkright said.

“Out of all the things that could happen, we’re just so grateful that everyone was okay, the guy delivering the plants, he was okay.”

To mark the occasion, the couple bought a lottery ticket but missed out on the jackpot.

“There’s a saying, if your house gets struck by lightning you buy a lottery ticket,” Mr Kirkright said.

“It’s good luck, or maybe not.”

Originally published as Clifton Springs couple’s close call after home hit by lightning