Lightning strike near home splits tree, damages car at Pottsville in Tweed Shire

A North Coast council worker says she “must buy a lotto ticket” after a massive lightning bolt struck her garden, blasting a tree into pieces and damaging a car.

An average lightning bolts carry a current of 10,000 to 30,000 amps. An average radiator draws ten amps. Picture: Terry West.

A North Coast council worker says she “must buy a lotto ticket” after a massive lightning bolt struck her garden, blasting a 15 metre tree into pieces and damaging a car.

The lightning struck frighteningly close to Nikki Tood’s home at Koala Beach, Pottsville about 8pm on Thursday night.

The lightning left quite a mess. Picture: Nikki Todd

A headlight on her son’s car was smashed and debris just missed the home.

“I love lightning, so I went outside and I could see lighting all around – there were just these huge lightning hits,” the Tweed Shire Council employee said.

The “big bolt struck” and the power went out, though Ms Todd noticed the neighbours’ lights were still on.

“That was frightening,” she said.

The damaged tree just missed flattening the car. Picture: Nikki Todd.

Neighbours began pouring into the street.

“None of us realised it at first – we all knew it was close but didn’t realise it had hit the tree,” Ms Todd said.

The tree was split by the lightning and a collapsed section struck the power box of Ms Todd’s home.

“Half of the tree just (got) blasted,” she said.

“Bits flew up the road and they were large pieces of the tree.”

Ms Todd was counting her lucky stars and felt fortunate the strike did not do more damage.

Tweed Shire Council workers cleaning up the debris. Picture: Nikki Todd.

Lightning storms are not new to the Tweed Shire, or the wider North Coast, and it’s not unusual for homes to be plunged into darkness during storm season.

Essential Energy spokeswoman Rachel Hussell has urged customers to act safely around power lines during storm season.

“Stay at least eight metres away from damaged or fallen powerlines,” she said.

“Always treat lines as live, remembering that anything in contact with them, such as cars, trees or fences, can conduct electricity and pose a danger.”

Check out the State Emergency Service (SES) website for more information on preparing and staying safe in storms.

Originally published as Lightning strike near home splits tree, damages car at Pottsville in Tweed Shire