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Lightning strikes Sandwich man
Jul 03, 2009 (Cape Cod Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Yesterday's powerful thunderstorm sent one man to the hospital after lightning struck near a home in Sandwich, dropped golf ball-sized hail on parts of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, and damaged a local fire department's phone system.
The 58-year-old male lightning strike victim, whose identity was not available yesterday because of medical privacy laws, was conscious and alert when firefighters took him to Cape Cod Hospital, Sandwich firefighter Tammy Pimentel said.
While the midday storm did little damage to the home on Foxcroft Lane in East Sandwich, some appliances in another home on Preakness Lane in Mashpee were damaged when the home was struck by lightning, a Mashpee fire official said.
No one was hurt inside that home, the official said.
Balls of hail ranging from 1 to 2 inches in diameter were reported on the Vineyard and areas of the Upper Cape, said Jeramiah Pyle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
It was hard to say when and where more storms could land in the area, Pyle said. "That's kind of the way it goes with these thunderstorms," he said. "It's hit or miss."
The storms are forming along a warm front offshore south of New England, then traveling north and east, Pyle said. Yesterday's storm lost some of its intensity after it made its way into Cape Cod Bay.
Hail builds up as it is circulated inside the forceful updraft of the storm, Pyle said.
"With a strong enough updraft, a little ball of ice will form and it will keep recirculating up into the cloud," he said.
The storm also produced flooding in other parts of the Cape and Islands, including Truro, where there were sporadic power outages, according to a police dispatcher.
In Barnstable, lightning hit a cottage in Cummaquid and damaged the phone system at the Barnstable Fire Department.
Lightning apparently entered through the back of the cottage at 301 Harbor Point and exited out the side, Barnstable fire Lt. Richard Ogonowsky said.
The strike knocked off some shingles and left a golf ball-sized hole in the back of the house about 10 feet off the ground, he said.
There was a one-foot rip in the wood up by the eaves where the bolt apparently exited.
People were home at the time of the strike and reported a "funny odor," Ogonowsky said, but nobody was hurt and firefighters determined there was no fire in the walls.
While the firefighters were out on the call, lightning damaged the station's phone system, according to Ogonowski. Nobody can use the 7-digit emergency and business numbers at the Barnstable Fire Department until the phones are fixed today, he said. The emergency 911 system was not damaged and still works, he said.
More thunderstorms are expected today but they are unlikely to be as intense as yesterday's weather, Pyle said.
Although the forecast for July 4 is still "iffy," it appears there is likely to be some clear skies over the weekend, he said. "We should see some sun."
Staff writer Cynthia McCormick contributed to this report.
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http://www.capecodonline.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
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