SHOCKING: Three houses in Offaly hit simultaneously by lightning strike

Three houses were hit at the same time by a lightning strike in Offaly this week.

The unusual and frightening incident happened during a thunderstorm in Birr on Tuesday, June 13 when the blast destroyed electronic equipment in the three houses.

All three homes were in the Cemetery Road area of Crinkill. Theresa Kirwan Ryan put up a post on her Facebook page shortly afterwards which said, “Hit my house, through the phone line. It ripped up and broke the tiles in my kitchen. The phone socket blew clean off the wall. It fried two televisions and the xbox. My son had a phone charging. He was holding it when the lightning struck. He got a shock but he's fine thank God. Scary stuff.”

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Leonie Moten wrote, also on Facebook, “It hit our house too. It blew the internet box and the plug flew off the wall!”

Worst hit was Michael and Caroline Blake's home. The lightning struck their outside tap and travelled to the sink in the kitchen where Caroline was making a cup of coffee. She was struck by the lightning and was very lucky to survive the incident.

Caroline said she noticed, just before the strike, the electricity in her house going on and off. Then she noticed sparks flying out of the silverware in her sink. Then there was a sudden loud explosion and the smell of burning throughout the kitchen.

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Caroline said the bang was extremely loud, reeling her backward a bit and disorientating her. The incident lasted a few seconds and she compared the sensation in her body to touching an electric fence. Her face and hands were red after the event.

Caroline went to her GP and then to Tullamore Hospital. Thankfully she was okay, and was discharged after a few hours. However, there were physical aftereffects. There were two small burns on her wrist and stomach and next day she had a bad headache. The doctors told her that the fact she was wearing her runners may have saved her life.

By Thursday Caroline was able to return to her job.

Christopher Scott, Professor of Space at Atmospheric Physics at the Department of Meteorology in the University of Reading said the lightning strike on the three houses was “very unusual”.

The Professor pointed out that all the electrical wiring and all the plumbing in modern construction is earthed to ground which means that electrical energy from a lightning strike goes straight down those conducting pathways into the ground, thereby ensuring the safety of the inhabitants. “Therefore,” he said, “being inside is usually the safest place to be.”

The chances of being struck by lightning are very low, 300,000 to one.