Bay Area Lightning Strikes Plane, Explodes Trees, Hits Woman ...
blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/04/01/lightning_bay_area
18 hours ago - What remains of a Berkeley redwood after being struck by lightning Monday. (
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Bay Area Lightning Strikes Plane, Explodes Trees, Hits Woman
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What remains of a Berkeley redwood after being struck by lightning Monday. (Photo: Dan Brekke/KQED)
The Bay Area got lit up yesterday: we’re talking lightning strikes. An Alaska Airlines flight operated by Horizon was struck at Oakland International Airport. In Sausalito, a redwood tree was struck and shattered windows at two homes.
“It sounded like a bomb went off,” Ellie Wilder, a neighbor, said.
Our partner Berkeleyside reports on local lightning damage:
A giant redwood tree in North Berkeley was struck by lightning at around 1:15 p.m. today and “exploded,” sending chunks of wood flying in all directions, according to authorities.KQED News Fix editor and Berkeley resident Dan Brekke posted photos of the aftermath in a set he calls “End of a Berkeley Redwood.”
Several windows and skylights in nearby homes were broken out, but there were no reported injuries, according to Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief Avery Webb, who estimated the redwood, which is at the intersection of Holly Street and Buena Avenue, had been reduced in size from 70 ft to about 25 ft….
Kat McGowan, who was in the area, said the tree “exploded” and shards of wood flew everywhere. She said the house next to the tree seemed to be “mostly OK” “It was scary/thrilling. Good thing everybody seems to be OK,” she posted on Twitter.
Dan describes the lightning as “a brilliant streak … accompanied by a simultaneous ear-splitting crash.” As for what remains:
(A) 25-foot-high snag that comes to a jagged point reaching up over the adjacent homes and foliage. Neighbors, gawkers and curiosity seekers have all been out picking up bits of the blown-up tree (the smithereens to which the redwood was blown); I saw a woman pull up, tour the site, and walk away with what looked like a 50-pound remnant. The red-tagged home and the remains of the tree have served as a set since last night for every Bay Area TV news show — until 11 p.m. last night and then again this morning before dawn.And in South Berkeley, a woman reported actually being struck by a bolt. From Berkeleyside:
Emily Davis was struck by lightning in Berkeley on Monday while crossing the road during a dramatic storm. Although she was shaken and suffered some after-effects, Davis was not seriously injured. However, the experience, she said, has left her feeling lucky to be alive.KCBS has other accounts in this video. The station reports the tree stood 80 feet.
Davis, 31, was standing on the median at the intersection of Adeline and Stuart streets at around 1 p.m. when she was struck. She was heading to Berkeley Bowl to buy lunch for her boyfriend, who works at the nearby Berkeley Honda.
She heard a first clap of thunder which, she said, sounded like a bomb exploding.
The first she knew of being struck was when she felt a “terrible” metallic taste in her mouth.
“Then I saw an orb of light travel down the umbrella handle I was holding in my right hand,” Davis said.
“Thankfully I was holding the plastic end of the umbrella, or else I would’ve been in big trouble,” she told Berkeleyside.
Davis’ heart began beating very fast. “I think out of both the literal and physical shock,” she said. And her left arm — not the one she was using to hold the umbrella — started shaking uncontrollably.
The coffee she was holding in her left hand was thrown to the ground.
Today, we got hail …
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- Berkeleyside - 13 hours agoA giant redwood tree in North Berkeley was struck by lightning at around 1:15 p.m. today and “exploded” sending chunks of wood flying in all ...
- Berkeleyside - 1 day ago
Lightning strikes Berkeley tree, sends wood chunks flying
end quote from:A giant redwood tree in North Berkeley was struck by lightning at around 1:15 p.m. today and “exploded” sending chunks of wood flying in all directions, according to authorities.This redwood tree at Holly and Buena was struck by lightning and “exploded” according to neighbors and authorities on the scene. Photo: Kat McGowan
Several windows and skylights in nearby homes were broken out, but there were no reported injuries, according to Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief Avery Webb who estimated the redwood, which is at the intersection of Holly Street and Buena Avenue, had been reduced in size from 70 ft to about 25 ft.
Listen to today’s thunder in this recording, made at around 1:15 p.m., shared with us by Will Galloway:00:0000:00
“The tree blew apart, and there are chunks of wood everywhere,” Webb said.Debris from the redwood tree that was struck by lightning littered streets in the area. Photo: Dan Brekke
The fire department was on scene at 2:30 p.m. canvassing the neighborhood to assess the scope of the damage.
Webb said the fire department received a call about the tree at 1:22 p.m. It is located on the north-west corner of the intersection of Holly Street and Buena Avenue on private property.
Kat McGowan, who was in the area, said the tree “exploded” and shards of wood flew everywhere. She said the house next to the tree seemed to be “mostly OK” “It was scary/thrilling. Good thing everybody seems to be OK,” she posted on Twitter.Chunks of wood flew as far as 2 blocks from the tree according to authorities. Photo: Dan Brekke
Also on Twitter, Annie wrote that she was two blocks away and it “felt like a bomb.”The redwood tree at the north-west corner of Holly Street and Buena Avenue which exploded after being struck by lightning. Image: Google Maps
The loud thunder and lightning that accompanied today’s rain provoked lots of reaction in the community on social media. Many people reported that car alarms had been set off by the vibrations.
Get the latest Berkeley news in your inbox with Berkeleyside’s free Daily Briefing. And make sure to bookmark Berkeleyside’s pages on Facebook and Twitter. You don’t need an account on those sites to view important information.
Woman, 31, struck by lightning in South Berkeley
Emily Davis was struck by lightning in Berkeley on Monday while crossing the road during a dramatic storm. Although she was shaken and suffered some after-effects, Davis was not seriously injured. However the experience, she said, has left her feeling lucky to be alive.Emily Davis, who was struck by lightning in Berkeley on March 31, 2014. Photo: courtesy Emily Davis
Davis, 31, was standing on the median at the intersection of Adeline and Stuart streets at around 1 p.m. when she was struck. She was heading to Berkeley Bowl to buy lunch for her boyfriend who works at the nearby Berkeley Honda.
She heard a first clap of thunder which, she said, sounded like a bomb exploding.
The first she knew of being struck was when she felt a “terrible” metallic taste in her mouth.
“Then I saw an orb of light travel down the umbrella handle I was holding in my right hand,” Davis said.
“Thankfully I was holding the plastic end of the umbrella, or else I would’ve been in big trouble,” she told Berkeleyside.
Davis’ heart began beating very fast. “I think out of both the literal and physical shock,” she said. And her left arm — not the one she was using to hold the umbrella — started shaking uncontrollably.
The coffee she was holding in her left hand was thrown to the ground.
“It was absolutely terrifying,” she said Monday evening. “My heart was racing. I am just thankful that my shoes had no metal in them.”The median on Adeline Street at Stuart near Berkeley Bowl where Davis was struck by lightning. Photo: Google Maps
The metallic taste in her mouth persisted. Later in the evening, after Davis’ boyfriend had driven her home, he kissed her goodbye and said she tasted strongly of metal.
Davis, who moved to the Bay Area from Missouri seven years ago and works in San Francisco, said the experience became even more significant after she called her father.
“He told me that my great great great grandfather was struck and killed by lightning while sitting on a horse,” she said.
According to the National Weather Service, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are 1 in 500,000. About 60 people each year are killed by lightning in the United States, and several hundred are injured.
Remarkably cheerful, and grateful that she escaped a worse fate, Davis laughed while pointing out the irony of growing up in a state that sees a lot of thunderstorms, and then being struck by lightning in Berkeley where bolts of lightning are fairly rare.
Davis was curious to know if her experience might have been caught on film and, once safely home, called Walgreens, which has a store adjacent to the spot where she was struck, and the city of Berkeley, to inquire about the location of security cameras. Both said they did not have cameras trained on that location.
“I want proof,” Davis said.
Shortly after being struck, Davis heard a second loud thunderclap and saw the Berkeley Fire Department at Station 5 on Shattuck Avenue respond to what she later realized was the “exploding” redwood tree on Holly and Buena that saw large chunks of wood flying as far as two blocks away after being shredded by a lightning bolt. It reenforced for her the significance of what had happened.
Meanwhile Davis’ father, who, like her grandfather, is an electrician, told her it could have been much more serious.
“I could have been burned, or my heart could have stopped,” she said. “I’m feeling so lucky.”
Related:
Lightning strikes Berkeley tree, sends wood chunks flying (03.31.14)
Lightning strikes Bay Bridge in midst of dramatic storm (04.13.12)
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Woman, 31, struck by lightning in South Berkeley
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