The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published April 24, 2019

Damage confirmed from lightning strike

CAMDEN COUNTY – A lightning strike last Wednesday in between two houses resulted in damage to three residences but no fires.

On April 17 at 11:27 p.m., The Mid-County Fire Protection District (MCFPD) was dispatched to 116 Banner Street in Camdenton for an odor of smoke in the residence.

The reporting party indicated that lightning had struck close to their residence, just before smelling the smoke.

MCFPD firefighters arrived on scene to find evidence that a nearby lightning strike had occurred. The firefighters checked the residence and found several electrical components that appeared to have been damaged.

While on the scene at this address, the neighboring homeowner approached the firefighters and indicated that her residence had also suffered damage due to the lightning strike.

Firefighters checked the residence and found that it appeared lightning struck a tree in the front yard which energized the tree roots and caused significant damage around the base of the tree and to the yard.

A portion of the front wall and overhang of the residence had mud from the front yard, which apparently came from the lightning striking the ground, sending the mud onto the house.

The front window of this residence was broken out and an exterior light had been damaged along with a vehicle parked in the driveway next to the tree, which also had minor damage.

Firefighters also found a phone company junction box in the yard had been destroyed and a cable company junction box in the adjacent yard that had also been destroyed.

It appeared that the lightening energized the phone and cable line causing damage to at least three residences on the street.

Firefighters checked all of the residences to find no smoke, no heat and no fire.

The power company, telephone company and cable company were notified of the incident and the damage.

There were no injuries reported. MCFPD cleared the scene at 1:08 a.m.