Pair wake in a pink flash
PLAINLAND resident Shane Woods and his wife Lisa were woken on Saturday morning by a pink flash, a frightening crash of thunder and breaking roof tiles.
Ipswich
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PLAINLAND resident Shane Woods is hoping lightning really doesn't strike twice.
Mr Woods was woken up during the storms that tore across southern Queensland on Saturday morning by a pink flash and a frightening crash of thunder.
At least one bolt of lightning struck his house, breaking through the roof tiles above his garage and the insulating sarking below it.
"You should have heard the noise. When the sound is right on top of you it's just really amplified," he said.
"It got me out of bed in a hurry that's for sure."
Mr Woods said he was lying in bed with his wife Lisa when the lightning hit his house about 6.45am.
The strike blasted two holes in the roof and left pieces of roofing tiles scattered throughout the yard.
"I'm not sure if it was two strikes or if it forked out when it struck, but it left two holes in the tiles," Mr Woods said.
"There were pieces of tile lying about the yard."
When he inspected the damage Mr Woods found burn marks on a number of tiles and the sarking under the roof pitted from the lightning bolt.
He said he was thanking his lucky stars the house didn't use paper insulation.
"As a mate of mine said, I'm lucky it didn't burn the house down. I'll be buying a lotto ticket this week, I can tell you."
According to Mr Woods there was a huge amount of lightning in the Plainland area during the storm, but he didn't know of any other strikes on houses.
Plainland was without power for hours on Saturday after the storms struck the area as well as much of the rest of southern Queensland.
About 11,000 people were without power across the region.
LIGHTNING FACTS
Between five and 10 people are killed by lightning in Australia annually.
When struck by lightning people are not "fried", but their heart and breathing is affected.
Wearing wet clothing may save your life if you are hit by lightning as the charge will conduct through the wet clothes rather than your body.
Originally published as Pair wake in a pink flash
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