Yurts in Ocean View

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by terracore

We had a coconut palm hit by lightning and a bunch of electrocuted, flaming rats rained down from it. had no idea so many rats lived up there. The palm was about 15 feet from the nearest bait station.

Well, there's some mental imagery.....thanks I guess?

[terracore]

That's nothing. I was standing next to the palm when it was hit. One second I was taking the rubbish out under clear blue skies (though I could hear thunder from miles away), the next second, my world went completely black and I briefly lost consciousness. I remember hearing the loudest explosion of my life and all I saw was stars against a black backdrop. Not like night stars but more like sparklers. I felt something burning hitting my face and neck as my vision came back online. Though still confused I realized the thunder and what I was experiencing was probably related, so I looked for my wife which I knew was about 50 feet away in the donkey paddock and asked her where it (lightning) hit. She was crouched down on the ground like we were under attack and shouted back that she didn't know. By that time several seconds had passed and my brain had rebooted enough that I realized the burning on my face and neck were embers falling from the palm that was burning like a gigantic torch. It was then that I noticed the flaming rats. I was near the hose so I turned it on and tried to spray the fire, but it was too far for the hose to reach so I focused on keeping the falling embers and rats from setting anything else on fire. It didn't dawn on me until later that I may have experienced a mild electrocution injury that caused the temporary (seconds only) loss of vision and consciousness, but when it did I figured I was fully recovered and didn't see any reason to seek treatment.

One of our dogs was near me, and she had ZERO fear of lightning, thunder, gunshots, fireworks, etc, until that day. Now when she hears thunder or fireworks she is inconsolable. She gets into the bathtub and shivers (and she hates baths). I looked that behavior up and it is theorized that dogs can sense electrical storms in their feet and that the bathtub insulates them from it. Though... not sure how she would figure that one out on her own. But I was insulated by wearing work boots and still had a "reboot". Our poor dog had her feet directly on the ground when the lightning hit.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by terracore

That's nothing. I was standing next to the palm when it was hit. One second I was taking the rubbish out under clear blue skies (though I could hear thunder from miles away), the next second, my world went completely black and I briefly lost consciousness. I remember hearing the loudest explosion of my life and all I saw was stars against a black backdrop. Not like night stars but more like sparklers. I felt something burning hitting my face and neck as my vision came back online. Though still confused I realized the thunder and what I was experiencing was probably related, so I looked for my wife which I knew was about 50 feet away in the donkey paddock and asked her where it (lightning) hit. She was crouched down on the ground like we were under attack and shouted back that she didn't know. By that time several seconds had passed and my brain had rebooted enough that I realized the burning on my face and neck were embers falling from the palm that was burning like a gigantic torch. It was then that I noticed the flaming rats. I was near the hose so I turned it on and tried to spray the fire, but it was too far for the hose to reach so I focused on keeping the falling embers and rats from setting anything else on fire. It didn't dawn on me until later that I may have experienced a mild electrocution injury that caused the temporary (seconds only) loss of vision and consciousness, but when it did I figured I was fully recovered and didn't see any reason to seek treatment.

One of our dogs was near me, and she had ZERO fear of lightning, thunder, gunshots, fireworks, etc, until that day. Now when she hears thunder or fireworks she is inconsolable. She gets into the bathtub and shivers (and she hates baths). I looked that behavior up and it is theorized that dogs can sense electrical storms in their feet and that the bathtub insulates them from it. Though... not sure how she would figure that one out on her own. But I was insulated by wearing work boots and still had a "reboot". Our poor dog had her feet directly on the ground when the lightning hit.

That is one wild story.
I had a similiar electrocution incident when I was young. First house I ever owned, I was trying to put a new breaker in the houses panel. While pushing it onto the bus, my hand slipped and I was (stupidly) holding a pair of pliers that made contact with the bus and arc-flashed. I was shot back hard, and lost vision for a second with ringing in my ears that persisted for a few hours.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Grassyknoll

That is one wild story...

Sure beats me teasing my mother by putting my finger in a light socket and pulling the string when I was a kid. Either my natural resistance ability is unusual, or the jolt of 110v is more ‘surprise’ than actual hurt. I’d feel the ‘buzz’ and could hold it for a short count before releasing.

Lightning? I’ll pass. Great story!

[terracore]

The same night as the lightning strike, the pressure switch hose on our water system burst while we were sleeping and flooded our enclosed lanai. The wife noticed the pump running which discovered the problem so we had to get up in the middle of the night and deal with the flooding.

This was happening in the same time frame that the Leilani eruption started and we were about 10 miles from the closest erupting fissure. A friend called me and asked how things were going. I paused for a second and thought about how things were going: non-stop Earthquakes, lava, acid rain, fire and brimstone, toxic volcanic gasses, Pele's hair, lightning strikes, flaming pestilence falling from above, flooding, (the list went on, the island got a glancing blow from a hurricane, etc). I told him things were going well. It was just a lot more believable than the truth.

[maiden_fern]

Originally Posted by terracore

The same night as the lightning strike, the pressure switch hose on our water system burst while we were sleeping and flooded our enclosed lanai. The wife noticed the pump running which discovered the problem so we had to get up in the middle of the night and deal with the flooding.

This was happening in the same time frame that the Leilani eruption started and we were about 10 miles from the closest erupting fissure. A friend called me and asked how things were going. I paused for a second and thought about how things were going: non-stop Earthquakes, lava, acid rain, fire and brimstone, toxic volcanic gasses, Pele's hair, lightning strikes, flaming pestilence falling from above, flooding, (the list went on, the island got a glancing blow from a hurricane, etc). I told him things were going well. It was just a lot more believable than the truth.

Oh, that had to be one bad day in paradise!