An Adelaide crane worker has suffered an electric shock when lightning hit the machine he was working on as a storm passed through the city about midday on Thursday.
The man, aged in his 50s, was at Built Environs' Franklin Street building site, in the west of the CBD, when it is believed the current passed through a chain being used to help load the machine, CFMEU state secretary Aaron Cartledge said.
Mr Cartledge said the crane worker had been released from hospital, but it was a lucky escape.
"He didn't get directly hit, the crane got hit and it's transferred some of that voltage down the cable into the chains and into the crane chaser who was hanging onto those chains," Mr Cartledge said.
"He could have lost his life. He was lucky.
"He walked to the safety shed and got into a ute and was taken by the safety people to the hospital."
Mr Cartledge said the man was in a satisfactory condition and was taken to hospital as a "precautionary measure" so his heart could be monitored.
He said at least one other crane was hit by lightning in the CBD but the Franklin Street crane was the only one operating at the time of the strike.
Crane work at the site ceased, but was expected to resume on Friday.
Mr Cartledge said workers and builders needed to be aware of regulations relating to lightning.
Little rain in Adelaide
Meanwhile, another man was also taken to hospital after lightning hit metal road plates near where he was working at Marion.
SA Ambulance said the man in his 30s was not hit directly, but paramedics stabilised him at the scene, at Marion in the southern suburbs, and he was taken to nearby Flinders Medical Centre for further treatment.
Thousands of homes lost power across some western and southern suburbs as the storm passed through.
Strong winds lashed Adelaide, with a gust of 78kph recorded at Outer Harbor in the north-west suburbs and 83kph at Minlaton on Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide.
During Thursday afternoon between 1mm and 3mm of rain fell across Adelaide, but there were some heavier falls recorded south of Adelaide.
Larger falls were recorded in the upper south-east and lower south-east, with Mount Gambier receiving 10.4mm, Robe 11.8mm and Coonawarra 13.2mm.
Much of Adelaide had been bathed in winter sunshine until the storm's sudden arrival.
The bureau said the unusual clouds which accompanied the high altitude storm were known as shelf cloud.
