Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Blackouts hit Johannesburg


The Times
Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:54 UTC
A lightning strike on a transmission tower left swathes of Johannesburg without power this afternoon, City Power said.

"It is very widespread," said spokesman Louis Pieterse of the outage which stretches from at least Rosebank in the north east to Mondeor in the south.

Court cases at the Johannesburg High Court, including judgment in the "Jeppestown massacre" case, were among the daily affairs put on hold as technicians tried to repair the damage and restore power.
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Cloud Lightning

Kenya: Three children die as lightning strikes


Daily Nation
Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:30 UTC
Three children died following a lightning strike at Kisima Village in the newly-created Buuri District.

According to the Kenya Red Cross Society, the incident in Eastern Province on Wednesday occurred around 6pm.
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UFO

Venezuela: A UFO Destroyed by Lightning?

Hector Escalante
Inexplicata
Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:02 UTC
UFOs
© Unknown
Ufo and lightning
© Unknown
On September 17 of this year, Jairo Esparragoza managed to capture the flight of an alleged unidentified object that appeared to vanish after being struck by a bolt of lightning.

The event was recorded between 6 and 7 p.m. using the camera of a Motorola Motoraz V3 cellphone as the witness drove along the Guarenas-Guatire Expressway in the vicinity of the Buenaventura Shopping Mall in the state of Miranda in north-central Venezuela.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes as man takes oath

Yang Jie
CCTV
Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:42 UTC
In a bizarre incident, a man in eastern China was struck by lightning just as he lifted an iron bar over his head to swear that god would punish him if he had taken money from his friend.

The man, who was identified as Xu, had borrowed 500 yuan (US$73.21) from a close friend surnamed Huang three years ago. Xu, who lived in Fuqing City, Fujian Province, later forgot all about it, according to a news Web portal in Fujian.
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Extinguisher

Lightning charged storms start fires

John Tuohy
The Indianapolis Star
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:50 UTC
First came a deafening bang and an unnerving rattle, followed moments later by the distinctive smell of smoke.

Two homeowners in the Fishers area described identical experiences today hours after lightning strikes peppered property throughout the region.



Image
©John Tuohy / The Star
Michael Marcum, who lives in Fishers' Spyglass Falls neighborhood, examines a 5-by-5 foot hole today in his 15-year-old son's bedroom after firefighters extinguished a lightning-sparked fire at his home.

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Cloud Lightning

Oregon, US: Lightning starts additional fires


The Register-Guard
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:12 UTC
Lightning storms have sparked more than 100 new fires on the Willamette and Umpqua national forests since Saturday, with more lightning forecast through today.

About 75 of those fires are on the Willamette National Forest and all were initially pegged at less than an acre. Judith McHugh, spokeswoman for the Willamette, said crews and equipment are being sent to the fires but acknowledged that there are too many to attack all at once.
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Cloud Lightning

UK: Lightning strike hits 20 homes

Nicola Dowling
Manchester Evening News
Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:49 UTC
A huge bolt of lightning left 20 householders counting the cost after televisions blew and telephone lines melted.
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Phoenix

Lightning Strike Sparks Apartment Fire in South Carolina, US


FoxCarolina.com
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:42 UTC
A lightning strike sparked a fire that ripped through a roof at an apartment complex near Clemson University. Lightning hit the attic of the Clemson Place Apartments around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Most of the tenants are university students. Ashley Simmons, who lives downstairs in the building, was at work at the time of the strike. The students who live upstairs are away for the summer.

Simmons came home to find her roof in shambles and many of her belongings were drenched.
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Cloud Lightning

UK: Weather Eye: multi-coloured lightning strikes a mysterious pose

Paul Simons
Times Online
Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:38 UTC
[The following pictures were taken in South London during a storm.]



Lightning_1
©Unknown


There was a magnificent display of lightning on Monday night over much of the southern half of Britain. As the flashes came thick and fast, the West Midlands was hit hard by lightning strikes causing power cuts and fires, while the torrential downpours caused flash floods.
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Cloud Lightning

Brazil: Plane struck by lightning at Curitiba Airport

Simon Hradecky
The Aviation Herald
Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:42 UTC
A TAM (Brazil) Airbus A319-100, registration PR-MAO performing flight JJ3004 from Curitiba,PR to Sao Paulo Congonhas,SP (Brazil) with 46 passengers, was already on the runway ready for takeoff, when a lightning struck the airplane.
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