Couple feels blessed that lightning strike only damaged chimney
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (WJER) (April 19, 2024) – A couple has to rebuild their chimney after lightning struck it Wednesday afternoon, but they’re grateful that’s the worst of it.
Nancy Cox says she and her husband Ben were watching the news in their living room on Columbia Road Northwest between Dover and Strasburg. It was around 6 p.m. and Nancy had thought most of the storm had passed.
“All of the sudden it sounded like a cannonball hit our house,” she said. “We didn’t realize it hit our chimney until my husband got up and saw there were bricks all over our driveway, all over the place. He said, ‘Wow! That hit our chimney.’”
She says somebody from across the street at Hog Heaven saw the lightning strike and called the fire department. Dover firefighters responded.
“It just blew the top of the chimney to pieces,” she said. “The firemen went through the attic and everything to make sure there were no hot spots or anywhere fire could be, and everything was fine.”
Nancy says their Internet is out and it seems like their TV and phone landline got fried.
“We’ve got some electric problems going on, but other than that we’re really blessed because it could have been way worse.
“It threw bricks clear over to our neighbor’s property line. There were a couple of places where the electricity came up through the ground and broke a piece of our cement in our driveway and made a hole in our front yard.”
She says insurance will cover the damage, and she is grateful for neighbors and firefighters who rushed to help.