It's the same concerns that Destiny and Charles Atkins had on Saturday, but in their 10 years living in Lebanon, what happened to their home was something they never expected.
As thousands of lightning strikes blanketed the Midstate with the severe weather that pushed through this weekend, one of those strikes ended up hitting the couple's home on Barnes Drive. The strike caused a power outage in their home and even sparked a fire.
"We felt it," Charles said. "It shook the house."
The couple says they were inside when it struck, but they, at first, didn't think much of it. They thought it was another round of passing thunder that was nearby.
"Boom! Real loud," Destiny recalled. "And we were like, 'Oh my God, what is that?'"
The couple continued on with what they were doing. Charles went to retrieve a package from his front porch, and thanks to his next door neighbor, their watchful eye may have saved their lives, and their home.
"When I was getting the package, my neighbor Tracy, across the street, was running towards us, and he was just trying to get my attention and I immediately took notice to him," Charles said. "He didn't have any shoes on or anything. It was like, it was [in a] panic. And he was like, 'Your house is on fire! The attic is on fire!' And I'm like, 'What?'"
His neighbor noticed the smoke coming from the top of the home. While Destiny got their child and Charles' mother out of the home, Charles rushed to the attic with a fire extinguisher, hoping to put out what the lightning strike started.
"I'm not letting my house burn," Charles said. "So, that's why I went into protective mode."
Charles was able to put out much of the fire by the time first responders got on scene, which the couple estimates was around five minutes after the strike. The strike left two holes in their roof, a handful of blown outlets, and Charles with some minor burns.
Their home suffered only minimal damage in the long-run.
The Atkins applauded the work of the neighbors, first responders, and others who let them know what was going on and who helped when the situation was happening. The American Red Cross has helped the family find housing while repairs are made.
The couple wanted to stress the importance of watching out for your neighbors as well as having a plan in case of an emergency. They say these two factors, along with having the right tools in house, kept the situation from getting worse.
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