Lightning strike about 8:10 P.M. June 7, 2014.

[Taltarzac725]

Last night as my Mom and Dad were watching Drew Barrymore and the TCM host, Robert Osbourne, introduce On The Waterfront http://www.tcm.com/essentials/article.html?cid=27024&mainArticleId=961689 there was an extremely loud boom. My Mom said Beau leaped up three feet in the air from off her lap. I was watching a taped Cross Bones episode in my room when the lights and TV went out.

We looked around for damage but did not find any except for no power going to a few rooms. The smoke alarms in the main room had gone off for a few seconds.

We went to the two TEST circuit breakers but pushing these did not help getting the power back on so my Dad called an electrician who came at 9:30 P.M. and pulled out the two fried circuit breakers and advised us to watch the appliances and such for residual damage to their computer chips over the next week.

Our neighbors lost quite a lot more of their appliances but their circuit breaker survived.

It must have grounded next door would be my guess.

Quite a storm last night. I did manage to get onto FunTrivia to play the TOTV FunTrivia game but it was a late night.

[pooh]

I'm glad no one was hurt and the damage at this point seems minimal.
Beau okay?

[BarryRX]

Glad everyone is ok.

[Taltarzac725]

I'm glad no one was hurt and the damage at this point seems minimal.
Beau okay?

He really liked the electrician. He is fine, thanks. It sounds like it is very important to document that you had a lightning strike and this needs to be by a licensed electrician. We are not sure we are out of the woods yet because some of the computer chips could be damaged. The electrician told us to watch the computer, TVs, microwave, etc. for any chip damage.

[graciegirl]

We need to get lightning rods. 7 houses here in The Villages in the last eight years have burnt to the ground due to a direct lightning hit.

[EnglishJW]

We need to get lightning rods. 7 houses here in The Villages in the last eight years have burnt to the ground due to a direct lightning hit.

Since lightning is common, is there any reason why more lightning rods aren't installed in TV?

[graciegirl]

Since lightning is common, is there any reason why more lightning rods aren't installed in TV?



The ones that really WORK are several thousand dollars and there are many misconceptions about them. There are two men, villagers who are expert on lightning, having gone to University of Florida to find out and as a public service will present information on lightning to any group at no charge. They have NO link to any contractors who install equipment. They have a regular column in the POA bullitin.

[Fanman]

We had lightning rods installed in May and it pays to seek out a reputable installer. Our contractor gave us a 1 hour presentation of the how's and why's of the why things have to be done a certain way. It was quite an education.

[Taltarzac725]

In Southeast, Ground Rods May Not Protect Homes Against Lightning » News » University of Florida (http://news.ufl.edu/2002/08/15/lightningrod/)

The electrician was pushing power surge blockers at numerous points-- AC, Electrical box, strips for computer room, etc.

[Bonanza]

Since lightning is common, is there any reason why more lightning rods aren't installed in TV?

Yes, there is a very good reason why you don't see more lightning rods in The Villages.

$$$$$

[rdhdleo]

We had them installed 7 or 8 years ago plus had a whole house surge protector installed and have surge protectors on everything. As an added precaution we unplug computers etc during bad storms.

[raynan]

What Village was this in? We were on the patio at Palmer CC at that time and we saw some incredible lightening to the northeast.

[Taltarzac725]

What Village was this in? We were on the patio at Palmer CC at that time and we saw some incredible lightening to the northeast.

I am in Lynnhaven near the Lynnhaven pool.

[EnglishJW]

We had them installed 7 or 8 years ago plus had a whole house surge protector installed and have surge protectors on everything. As an added precaution we unplug computers etc during bad storms.

That (surge protectors) would have been my next question, with or without lightning rods. Thanks.

[graciegirl]

That (surge protectors) would have been my next question, with or without lightning rods. Thanks.


Seco will install a whole house surge protector but you still need individual ones too.

[Villageshooter]

Since lightning is common, is there any reason why more lightning rods aren't installed in TV?

cost! And do the rods really help,, the lightnig will go anywhere it want to,,,, has there been a house burn or get struck with the rods?

[Carl in Tampa]

That (surge protectors) would have been my next question, with or without lightning rods. Thanks.

We do not have lightning rods.

Twice we have experienced interior equipment damage from the surge of nearby lightning strikes.

First time: A ground strike that appeared to be about 15 yards away from the house tripped a couple of circuit breakers, one of which was to the refrigerator. When the circuit breakers were reset we noticed that the refrigerator was no longer providing cooling. A visit by a repairman disclosed that the refrigerator system is controlled by a circuit board, and he showed us a burned out component on the board. We have upgraded the insurance on our appliances to include this part of the refrigerator.

Second time: A ground strike that appeared to be about 10 yards away caused a surge that did more damage.

I was using my netbook computer, plugged into an AC outlet, and I felt a slight electrical charge on a finger that was touching the netbook. The transformer between the wall outlet and the netbook was burned out and had to be replaced. The netbook was undamaged.

Two of our three cable boxes were disabled due to the transformers between the wall outlet and the boxes being burned out. The transformer to one of our three television sets was burned out.

We have four electric powered reclining chairs. The transformers to two of them were burned out.

Our largest HD flat screen TV still works, but the HDMI input, where the cable box was plugged in, is burned out. The other video inputs still work.

Our Wii game was burned out, both the transformer and the game box.

Since that time we have had the power company install their "whole house surge protection" and have plugged some of our electronic equipment into the two AC outlet surge protectors that came with the offer.

We have not yet experienced another "near miss" lightning ground strike nearby, so don't know how well protected we may be.

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It should be noted that lightning surges are not limited to entering the house through electrical lines; they can also enter through strikes to cable systems and telephone lines in areas where those services involve hard wire installation.

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We live in the most active lighting strike area of the United States. Maybe that should have been mentioned when the discussion was about bugs, heat, humidity and alligators prior to moving here.

[buggyone]

I not only have the SECO surge protection and the individual surge protectors and power strips but also have UL lightning rods that are grounded deep into the earth. I feel pretty safe.

[nhelleks]

Contrary to what you might think, lightning rods are not that expensive. The SECO surge protection is limited to large appliances. If you have gas lines in your house, it's a good idea to have lightning rods.

[EnglishJW]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Whole house surge protection sounds like a very good idea and we will also look into the cost of installing lightning rods. Hopefully, none of us will ever need any of these things.

[Fanman]

A reputable lightning rod installer will recommend a whole house surge protector as part of the package as well as individual surge protectors on individual electronic devices. One of the easiest devices to forget is your microwave.

[sbjaly]

We also heard that tremendous BOOM. It shook the whole house and we all jumped!! I don't think we had damage. So sorry you did, and good luck.

I grew up in Central Florida...welcome to the Lightning Capitol of the World!!

Good luck with your repairs.

[Taltarzac725]

We also heard that tremendous BOOM. It shook the whole house and we all jumped!! I don't think we had damage. So sorry you did, and good luck.

I grew up in Central Florida...welcome to the Lightning Capitol of the World!!

Good luck with your repairs.

Thanks. We will have to watch our electronics and other stuff to see if there was any computer chip damage. The electrician said it sometimes takes days for the problems to occur.

[sharonga]

Fire chief told us 2 years ago not to bother with lightening rods. This was the night my house was hit. He said NOTHING will stop a direct hit.

[Taltarzac725]

Fire chief told us 2 years ago not to bother with lightening rods. This was the night my house was hit. He said NOTHING will stop a direct hit.

I believe the neighbor next door's front yard got the direct hit. Not sure what though. All their Internet and cable service are out and their cell phones which were charging got fried. We just lost power on two sides of the house due to two fried circuit breakers. We both have Prism. Ours was OK once the power to the Prism router was restored. Theirs needed a Prism repair person.