VIDEO: 'Rubber clogs saved my life' - Cork couple's miracle escape after house struck by lightning

Thunder and lightning storms.
Stock photo

Thunder and lightning storms. Stock photo

Stock image of lightning

Thunder and lightning storms. Stock photo

Ralph Riegel

August 09 2019 12:51 PM

A CORK couple admitted they had a miraculous escape as a lightning bolt struck their home and blew doors and sockets off the walls.

Terence and Jacqui were stunned by the scale of the damage inflicted by the lightning in the freak storm last night which swept over Cork and Ireland.

It took five units of Cork Fire Brigade to secure the property in Cobh off Cork harbour after it was struck at 11pm last night.

Terence is adamant that, but for the fact he was wearing rubber-soled clogs, he would have been seriously injured by the lightning strike as it surged through the property.

The bolt blew a hole in the ceiling of their home - and sockets were smashed from the walls.

"I think we are lucky to be alive," Terence told RedFM's Neil Prendeville Show.

"It was absolutely terrifying what happened."

The force of the blast even blew the gutters off the property.

Even built-in wardrobes were damaged by the force of the lightning strike.

"I think it hit the conduit in the roof and travelled down into the house," Terence said.

Terence was in the house with his wife and granddaughter, Trianna.

"I was watching TV - I never heard a bang as loud as it in my life. The whole room went orange. There was this jolt of energy surging through me. I was wearing a pair of rubber clogs and I think they saved me.

"It was like being struck with a sledgehammer. You could feel it going into your lungs. Trianna was crying and all stressed.

"I was trying to get focused and figure out what was going on. I thought a bomb had gone off outside.

"The energy surge hit me - but I didn't realise what was going on.

"I got everyone into the hallway and we stayed there together. I opened the front door but I was afraid of everyone to go outside because the whole street outside was white from the lightning strikes. Then I thought of the car and we went there.

"The sockets and light fixtures blew off. The mirrors on the wall even blew off. There is a hole in the roof and the ceiling.

"We are now waiting for the council to come down and help us out.

"The wardrobe and doors were blown off - we were very, very fortunate to escape it.

"We have no power, there is a hole in the roof but I'd say we could still live here. It is an old house so maybe it was the old circuits.

"My young granddaughter got a terrible fright from it. I felt a bit weak myself at the time. But I'm OK. I cannot really remember the seconds after it struck.

"Putting the house right now is the next thing."