A teenager has reportedly survived a lightning strike that left “a large hole” in her roof and damaged several other nearby properties.
Authorities in southwest Pennslyvania told WPXI-TV on Monday that a teenage girl was struck while inside her home, with a lightening bolt entering her body through her little finger.
“All of a sudden I hear the loud sound of thunder, and then I see lightning,” Giana Scaramuzzo, 15, said in an interview with WTAE.
“I see it reflect from my mirror, and all of a sudden I feel like a shock in my pinky, and then it goes up my body and out through my leg.”
Circleville fire capitan Keith Gray told the news station that the lightning exited her left leg, and that she was afterwards taken to hospital for a check-up, where she was cleared.
“I’m a little scared, still in shock,” added Ms Scramauzzo. “It’s kind of like I’m shaky and uneasy too.”
The local fire department said on Facebook that crews were called to the 12000 block of Sedona Drive “for a house struck by lightning”.
One injury and “a large hole in the roof” of a home was reported. There were no fires, the department said along with images of the damage.
The weather event happened on Monday night in North Huntingdon Township, southwest Pennslyvania, and six homes were reported damaged. One neighbour was reported as saying a chimney and porch on the same property were also destroyed.
According to the US National Weather Service, “lightning is a major cause of storm related deaths” and that it can cause cardiac arrest in some.
About 10 per cent of people who are struck by lightning are killed, with 27 lightning deaths recorded since 2009.
