The house on Maxanne Drive off of I-575 caught fire around 6 p.m. Thursday. Cathy Storey lives two doors down. She tells Channel 2 Action News "there was a very loud clap of lightning, very bright, and I knew it had hit somewhere around here. But I thought, maybe, it hit trees." No one in the house was hurt.

About a mile away, at roughly the same time, a woman was struck by lightning at a mini-warehouse business on Busbee Parkway. She's being treated for her injuries at Kennestone Hospital.

Since Monday, more than a dozen homes in Cobb, Cherokee and Gwinnett counties have been damaged or destroyed by lightning-sparked fires.

On Wednesday, lightning also struck Gwinnett Place Mall, but no damage was reported. That same day, high winds caused a roof collapse at Lund International, a manfacturing business in Suwanee.

An elderly Banks County man was killed early Wednesday morning when a 200-year-old oak tree fell on his mobile home during a thunderstorm. Larry Echols of Gillsville was crushed to death when the tree fell on his bedroom. His wife escaped injury.

A woman struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon at Dacula Park remains hospitalized at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville.

11 July 2008

What others are saying

There are no comments yet. Be the first to post one!