June 15, 1998
Growing up on the farm, we've had our share of good and bad weather. For the most part, we had rain that would mess up haying for a few days and strong storms that would send my family to the basement (which Mom had ingrained in us very well) and myself to the porch but that is just typical Midwest weather. On June 15, 1998 all of that would change.
It was a typical early summer day with temperatures warming up nicely into the upper 70s and increasing cumulus clouds throughout the day. The 1st crop of hay was partly cut and the fields that remained waved in the afternoon breeze. A typical picturesque scene of the country in June. By late afternoon, we became aware of storms forming to our east moving generally westward which is not typical. A hay customer in Wisconsin called warning us of 1 1/4" hail and damaging winds with the storms. My family had satellite television at the time so we stayed tuned to The Weather Channel for the latest weather information. As with all bad storms that rolled through, all five of us kids would grab our cherished stuffed animals, blankets and pillow and bring it with us to the basement to play until the storms past. My parents and I watched the intense part of the storms roll through with little cause to worry. I had the video camera hanging from my neck the whole time ready to hit the record button with the hope of seeing some "interesting" weather. But all that was happening was heavy rain with a typical thunderstorm.
At about 9:35pm, it wasn't the tornado I had been hoping for that came. Instead a -100+ kA lightning strike hit our home where the front porch roof met the second floor; right where an outlet was placed in my bedroom. The thunder was immediate and was felt along with the sound of what is best described as thousands of light bulbs breaking in one's ears. The smell of smoke instantly hit me. Dad ran upstairs to find that a fire had started immediately in the wall of my room. The rest of the night was more or less a blur of rain soaked tears and fire truck lights flashing with the distant sound of rolling thunder as the storms moved on.
Morning light exposed a family's life shaken up. The house still stood but the scars were clear to all who slowed down their cars to gawk at charred cedar siding. My bedroom, the rafters of the front porch, and one of the living room walls were burnt but smoke and water damaged the entire house. My bedroom was littered with the charred remains of my childhood. One strange finding from my remaining possessions was a poster I had used for a 4-H demonstration a year prior. Every chance I got in 4-H or school, I would talk about weather and so I had done a presentation on lightning called "Simply Shocking." As you can see below, some of the ashes from the fire landed on the poster causing it to burn right at the top of the lightning bolt. Accident? Coincidence? You are open to have your own opinion on it. For me, this was a clear sign that this event happened for a reason. And thus, my passion for finding the secrets behind lightning to help save others from experiencing what my family went through began.
The poster that was in my room when lightning hit my family's home and the namesake for my website.
It's been 12 years now since my
family's home was struck and those still on the farm are
still dealing with the remifications from the lightning's damage to our
home on a daily basis. With financial struggles
stemming from the fire and previously from my mother's battle with
cancer and continuing medical needs, my family has yet to live in a
real house again. For the first four months after the fire,
the seven of us (kids ages 4-14) lived in a 37 foot travel
trailer. When Minnesota winter started to make itself known,
we were able to find two used mobile homes to fit all of
us. They were meant to be "temporary" living conditions until
we were able to fix the house to move back in. With the high cost to
fix the house that burned due to its age and health concerns from the
molds growing thanks to the 3400 gallons of water used to douse the
flames, my family made the decision to go forward with build a new
log home that would fit all of us, have room for my mother's craft
business, and be a healthy home that wouldn't contain mold residue or
other health hazards found in some new construction
materials.
The building of our home has been slow. Every log has been lain with love by my parents and siblings. The need to hold other jobs for an income to cover daily living expenses and other bills cuts down on the time to build. The harsh Minnesota winters and hot summers also makes good building days even more scarce. But we are still hopeful that our home will be finished one day for all us to enjoy. If you'd like to see pictures of the construction of the log house, check this out.