Man films horrifying moment when lightning sets his backyard tree ABLAZE with 'almighty bang'
QUEENSALND, AUSTRALIA: The dramatic moment a lightning bolt hit a man's backyard in Queensland and set a tree on fire was caught on video. Luke Cottle was standing just a few meters from from where lightning struck his yard as he recorded a storm passing by his Arana Hills home, situated in north of Brisbane.
Luke described the close incident as horrifying. “It is one of those things where growing up in Brisbane, you hear a lot of lightning strikes, and you think it is nearby, but when it is literally metres away from you ... it was a bit of a surprise,” he said while remembering the moment.
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'We heard this almighty bang'
According to 7News, Bev Cottle, Luke's wife, claimed that when lightning struck their yard, she was inside with their children, watching the storm from the back windows. “We heard this almighty bang and the flash through the front door was so bright, so I rang out thinking it hit the carport or something, and Luke was swearing,” she said.
Further, a man was struck by lightning while playing golf at a Brisbane course at about 2.30 pm on March 12. He is still in critical condition. On Sunday afternoon, the man was playing golf at Brendale when a severe storm system moved through the southeast of Queensland. Paramedics attended to him there before rushing him to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
Warning about 'extensive thunderstorm activity'
Over 4000 residents lost power in Brisbane and Logan on the March 12 afternoon as a result of storms that affected most of southern Queensland. Harry Clark, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, told Daily Mail that there were powerful storms moving eastward and north of Noosa. "There are warnings still in place for areas such as Noosa into the Wide Bay as well as Gympie, Inskip, Rainbow Beach," he said.
Around 185 lightning strikes & one man struck of this storm over #brisbane this arvo! Did you miss that look of the massive storm @brisbanenews7 #brisbanephotographer #stromchaisng pic.twitter.com/AQxQoIa1s5
— Sujays_photography (@Sujaysphoto) March 12, 2023
By 6 pm in the evening, storms should be over Lake Cooloola, and by 6.30 pm, over Rainbow Beach, Inskip, and Inskip Point. According to Clark, things "had now eased" in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. The two locations with the greatest rainfall were northern Brisbane (60mm) and Eumundi (77mm), both on the Sunshine Coast. There haven't been any complaints of wind damage. Moreover, the Bureau issued a warning earlier in the day about 'extensive thunderstorm activity' moving into Brisbane and the Gold Coast.