A CORK MAN has spoken about feeling like he was “hit with a sledgehammer” when a lightning bolt struck his house in Cobh last night.
Terence told The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork’s Red FM that the lightning left a hole in the roof and that his home is currently without power due to the surge.
Thousands of homes are still without power after heavy rain and thunderstorms affected large areas of the country last night.
Speaking this afternoon, Terence says he was in the house with his wife and granddaughter when the lighting struck but that he didn’t know what was happening.
“I was in the sitting room watching TV and next minute, I have never heard a bang as loud in my life and the whole sitting room went orange.
And I don’t know if I fell asleep or was I was knocked because I just remember this jolt of energy surging through me and I had these pair of clogs on me, these rubber clogs, and I think they probably saved my life, maybe.
“The sensation was like, all I can say is it was like being hit with a sledgehammer, that’s all I can say, it was frightening. The house was in blackness, there was white smoke. You could feel it going into your lungs.”
Terence said that his granddaughter started screaming and that he still didn’t know what had happened.
“I was trying to think what was going on because I didn’t know what was happening, I thought the house had been attacked. I thought there was a bomb outside I was so confused.”
When he realised what had happened he said he took his granddaughter out to the car because he figured that would be the safest place, adding that he wasn’t thinking clearly but that the street kept lighting up due to the lightning.
Terence said that the sockets and light fittings blew out and that his house is still without power but that everyone is safe.
“The fire brigade lads were brilliant, they were out in minutes, they were brilliant. They made it safe and everything, they were nice and calm and composed and thanks to them.”
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