Lightning struck the house yesterdaY - First Emergency

**MrMom** · 07-20-2011, 01:52 AM

Well I was wondering when our "emergency" would happen, yesterday we had some light to medium rain and a few bit of thunder nothing major sounding really, but next thing you know BAM huge flash of white and loud bang, half the house went out power wise. Oddly one half was still on even, went and threw the breakers and started to realize many things not coming back on

So far Washer, Stove, 3 pcs, ps3, 2 tvs, 2 directv boxes, att ewire gateway box, stereo receiver, powered subwoofer, digital photo frame, 4 surge protectors just destroyed, 2 ethernet port switches, and sadly we are finding even more as we go along...

Some things turn on but aren't working right, first thing called State Farm but still waiting for a rep to call us back and start whatever process we can towards trying to sort this mess out.

Today the att guy came and replaced our modem and my laptop was ok so at least I am back online, but no idea where it's all gonna go hoping state farm takes care of us on this one.

Frustrating but could have been much worse, house could have caught fire or something and nobody was hurt just scared...

Anyways deductible is $500 so there goes half the emergency fund altho its thousands in damages so far so sure hope they help us out with some repairs replacements etc.

Bill

**Starlight9803** · 07-20-2011, 06:17 AM

That is just awful that something like that happened. Luckily you have the emergency fund in place for things like this. Hope the insurance company gets out soon and covers what you need it to.

**ladykemma2** · 07-20-2011, 06:28 AM

golly...glad you all are ok. do you need to have the roof inspected too?

**Russ** · 07-20-2011, 07:01 AM

Bill, I know this is a little late but you should buy the power strips that come with guarantees. So if something like this does happen again, the company will reimburse you for the loss.

Check this Home electronics tip..

**Ceashels** · 07-20-2011, 07:55 AM

I'm glad you are all safe. Greebo would have needed to peel me and the dogs off the ceiling if it happened here.

**low-1** · 07-20-2011, 08:45 AM

You may want to check to see if your local utility company offers any kind of compensation as well. I'm pretty sure that ours does in the case of power surges such as lightning strikes. A few forms to fill out, but no deductible. Might be worth a call anyway.

Glad you're OK and the house is still standing.

**greekislandgirl** · 07-20-2011, 08:54 AM

Wow, glad you're okay! That's scary. I hope the insurance company comes through for you.

Kind of makes me want to go unplug everything ....

**Jamielane** · 07-20-2011, 09:37 AM

That happened to us about 7 years ago. It got almost every electronic thing in the house . It also got the washer. We have Allstate and they paid for the replacements on everything but it was awful to go through. The lightning stuck right on the back of the house and blew a phone jack clear off a wall and left singe marks . It was very scary! Good luck getting it all sorted out!

**Libby** · 07-20-2011, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by Ceashels

I'm glad you are all safe. Greebo would have needed to peel me and the dogs off the ceiling if it happened here.

Totally would have to agree - DF would have to peel me off of him

Sorry to hear that it happened but glad to hear that you're alright. Have you thought about buying a couple of surge protectors for your electrical panel? It will save the house vs specific items plugged into a surge protector power bar.

**RaineyDaye** · 07-20-2011, 01:08 PM

Lightning struck our house about seven years ago. The computer wasn't even on, but the processor was destroyed. (Fortunately I was able to get the data off the hard drive.) There were other appliances that I didn't realize until much later were affected... such as my microwave would go into weird spells then be okay for awhile. Of course, since I thought many things worked okay, I didn't claim them. State Farm covered everything I did claim (except the deductible), and paid quickly.

**mateosbaby** · 07-20-2011, 03:08 PM

Scary!!! Glad you're all OK. We have State Farm, and they have always been awesome to work with. I'm sure they'll come through for you, too! Glad you have that BEF in place!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 07-21-2011, 05:22 PM

Yuck!

That is partially why I shut off everything and unplug it when there's a storm rolling in. DH HATES when I do it, but when stuff like what happened to you happens, I remind him of that.

One thing I would recommend to you for the future, since this has happened, is to check out a power surge attachment that goes onto your fuse box. I saw one on Holmes on Homes (and I am thankful that I did). What happens is the next time that lightning strikes your home or you have a massive power surge, it fries the box instead of everything in your home that's attached to your fuse box.

It's called a whole house surge protection.

Leviton 51120-1 Whole House Surge Suppressor / Surge Protector - Smarthome

It will run you far less than the deductible on your insurance. You can have the insurance AND the protector at the same time.

Here is another one:

Sycom SYC-120/240TC Residential Surge Protector

That one is about four times less in price, but I'm not sure how good Sycom is.

**mauimagic** · 07-22-2011, 02:33 PM

Nasty happenings for sure - what's the latest?

**Anna43** · 08-07-2011, 11:48 PM

Sorry to hear about your problems but thankful no one was hurt and you didn't have a fire. My mom has this happen twice and both times it came in on the phone lines. They lost only phones since no computer.

This is a reminder to all of us to make sure our EF includes enough to cover deductibles on house and car insurance. It also brings up another point. If our EF is large enough to cover larger deductibles, we could raise deductible abounts and then our insurance premiums would go down.

**sinopa27** · 08-07-2011, 11:53 PM

oh my!! My heart goes out to you! You seem so calm. I would have freaked out!! I am glad you and the family are safe. no fire!! That was a fast response by att for the internet!! I hope State Farm takes care of everything. As far as the power strips, check with the company, I believe they need the report from the ins company and they reimburse you.
take care!