Kicker: Lightning strike

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Thunder and lightning rattled outside Marylou Ward’s house in Port Charlotte, Florida. 

But it was a noise inside her home that got her attention. 

She told the local TV station WINK:

AUDIO: It was the loudest noise I’ve ever heard. It just went boom!

That wasn’t all. Smoke filled the air and so she ran to check it out.

AUDIO: We came in here and the toilet was laying on the floor. It was all — pieces everywhere, pieces everywhere.

Sure enough, lightning had struck her septic tank, and the rest of this story is the chain reaction that followed! 

Here’s what happened: The lightning strike ignited methane gas lingering in the tank. That rapid combustion sent the blast up through the plumbing. Which led to the toilet and then … well, she says it best:

AUDIO: Boom.

Boom! Just goes to show: Lightning may strike only once, but at least in this case, it did produce a domino effect. 

Happily, no one was hurt.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

(Photo/Marylou Ward, WINK)

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