Lightening Strikes

Today we had a terrible storm in Beaumont. As I was heading toward the post office and bank, I realized the sky was getting darker and darker. After finishing at the bank, which happens to be near Baskin Robbins, I decided to go to the store and stay there with Maren and another worker. Didn't want anything to happen to Maren. Figured I am older and wiser--and I didn't want anybody by the big glass windows in the front of the store. While I am at the store, my cell phone rings; and it was Eric telling me not to drive because the rain by our house was like torrential rain (the same storm was hitting Baskin Robbins as we spoke). As we were talking, I heard this loud boom over the cell phone and Eric said, "Man that was like right over the house".

He called me about 20 minutes later and said that our neighbor's house was on fire (our kitchen window faces their kitchen window) and that he had called 9-1-1, tried to get the Li Family to answer the door or the windows. They are an older couple (in their 80's) and didn't know their house had been hit by lightning. She told Eric that she saw a "fireball" fall by the kitchen window but then there was nothing else. They sat in that house while their attic was smoldering. Eric told me to not come home. Duh, don't say that to somebody who knows their house is next door to the house smoldering...I had to get my dog out of the house!!

Poor Mr. and Mrs. Li. I don't think Mr. Li knew what was going on. He is getting so old and his mind is not there as much as it used to be. I went over to Mrs. Li and she says to me, "Mr. Patterson he save our lives". Eric doesn't think he is a hero, but to Mrs. Li Eric has become a hero to her. And one note...please make sure your homes have smoke alarms. Theirs didn't..thank goodness Eric went outside to get in the car to go back to work.

Here a few pictures. The lightning hit the house by the chimney and it actually blew the bricks out from the chimney.

If you look closely at the roof, the stuff that
looks like dust is pieces of brick that blew apart.

This was taken later in the afternoon, but it gives
you an idea how close our house is to theirs. It
makes you wonder why we were spared and they
weren't. We were blessed and count our many
blessings and Lis are counting theirs tonight
because of my husband the hero!!

AGAIN, DON'T FORGET THE FIRE ALARMS IN YOUR HOMES. RIGHT NOW, IF YOU HAVE SOME, GO CHECK THE BATTERIES; IF YOU DON'T, GO TO THE STORE AND GET SOME FOR YOUR HOMES. LITERALY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN LIGHTNING WILL STRIKE. KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE. NOT ALL OF YOU HAVE A "MR. PATTERSON" AS A NEIGHBOR.