Ka-boom! Tree-splitting lightning strike a little too close for comfort

Tree-splitter: Burnside resident Jim Egerton got the fright of his life when this tree was struck while he was working nearby in his garden.

Thousands of lightning strikes lit up the skies over Nambour in the afternoon last month (February 14), but one gave Burnside resident Jim Egerton the fright of his life.

Jim lives right next to Burnside Park  and was working in his front garden, when lightning struck a tree not 10m from where he was standing, splitting the tree and scattering wood in all directions.

“It hadn’t really started raining but the skies were looking really dark,” Jim said. “My wife Marie said I shouldn’t go outside, but I wanted to finish the gardening before the rain came so I kept going.

“The next thing I knew was this bright flash of light and a very loud bang behind me and when I looked round most of the tree was in bits on the ground.”

Jim later discovered that a pole on the edge of his garden had also been destroyed, and a small hole had been made in his roof.

The storm caused a power outage that affected around 900 Nambour homes, and many air-to-ground lightning strikes were seen. – Pic and story with thanks to Tony Bryant