A thunderstorm turned bizarre and destructive last Wednesday afternoon when an apparent lightning strike took out the chimney of a home on Olde Galleon Lane in Castaway Cove, scattering masonry blocks all over a bedroom, damaging a luxury car in the garage and giving two teenagers a serious jolt.
When fire crews responded to the home of Vero Beach veterinarian Dr. Kattis Stengard at 4:45 p.m., they found what they estimated to be more than $110,000 in damage to the home and to a black BMW parked in the garage.
“Two children of the owner, a 15- and 18-year-old, had been in rooms not affected by the collapse at the time of the event and reported a very loud explosion sound,” the Indian River County Fire Rescue report stated.
The strike was so powerful that firefighters reported concrete blocks and debris scattered on the ground. The investigation revealed extensive damage with “debris and block . . . on the bed in the room containing the fireplace, up to approximately 18 feet from the fireplace,” according to the report. “The entire ceiling has collapsed in the room and hall.”
The South barrier island was experiencing a downpour at the time the time of the explosive lightning strike and, “water was entering the structure from the multiple roof breaches and flowing into several rooms,” the report states.
The debris field spanned a surprisingly wide area, with concrete blocks landing “near the east and south property lines and in the yard as well. The copula from the chimney was reported to be in the neighbor’s yard to the east.”
Since “a smoky smell was noted in the area of the collapse,” firefighters checked the whole home and attic but found no evidence of smoke or fire.
They turned off the breakers as a precaution and advised Dr. Stengard and her family to sleep elsewhere that night. Two pet gerbils were recovered and reported to be OK, but a cat that had been inside the home during the lightning strike could not be immediately located.