Lightning Strike - Gas Leak
Storm rolls in
Woken by strong rain, hail and wind. Moved the generator back inside from the yard.
Lightning strike
A very close partial strike shakes the whole house. Breakers trip, the outside lights go dark, and the computer power supplies start beeping.
Breakers reset
Switched the circuits back on in the storage room. One of the porch area circuits tripped right back.
Damage found
Outlet cover and connected power cables blown out at the back door, the low voltage transformer in pieces, and a gas leak from a broken pipe in the porch area fireplace.
Gas shut off
Called 911 and waited outside with the dogs until the fire department shut off the gas.
First photos
Documented the burned GFCI outlet.
Coax surge damage
The surge traveled through the coax and fried the electronics connected to it: two TVs, the TiVo and the routers. The Centerville server is recovered with an external NIC and an OS reinstall.
Gas lines replaced
S & R pressure-test the individual gas lines and replace the outside lines with copper.
Lights and rack closet
All the backyard low voltage lights replaced, and the rack closet rebuilt.
Server back in service
A refurbished Dell T630 replaces the T330 that refused to POST.
Breaker replaced
The charred circuit breaker is replaced.
Fireplaces fixed
Beneath The Mantle gets all three fireplaces working again, with new electronics and a new flex pipe for the porch fireplace.
At exactly 2:43 AM on a Sunday morning, we got jolted by a very close partial lightning strike. The whole house shook, electrical breakers switched. But worst of all, we had a gas leak from a broken pipe in the porch area fireplace.
About half an hour ago, I got woken by the strong rain then hail coming down and the winds. A few hours before I was watching this video on YouTube about the recent Spokane fires and this gentleman's story on how he saved his house using a sprinkler system on his roof, watching for embers. One thing he praised was having a gas powered generator.
That reminded me that I have one of those, which I haven't started in over two years. I know the start should have been annually, but I forgot the year before. So I went down to the storage room and pulled that up and moved it to the outside so I will remember. With the rain and hail pounding, I went down and moved the generator inside then went to the bathroom. As I was minding my business, I got the jolt in the whole house, it felt like we got hit by a projectile.
Heard the power supplies on the computers start beeping and I went out to see the yard. All the outside lights were gone, and the house was dark. I immediately went downstairs to the storage room and switched on the circuits. One of the circuits in the porch area tripped right back.
Went upstairs and opened the main door to the backyard, and noticed the outlet cover and the connected power cables were blown out, the low voltage transformer was in pieces. But the worst was the hissing and the smell of natural gas coming out of the porch fireplace. Called out to Kelly and we got the dogs with our phones in our hands after calling 911, we went outside to wait for the fire department to come and shut our gas.
After the gas was shut off, we were told to call Xcel Energy to assess the damage and give us the instructions for HVAC and insurance etc.
August 9
Aug 9, 03:52 - burned GFCI outlet
Aug 9, morning - broken outlet
Aug 9, morning - burned low voltage transformer
Aug 9, morning - what was left of the transformer
Aug 9, morning - more pieces
Aug 9, 09:33 Xcel Energy Tag on the pipe
Aug 9, 09:59 - broken outdoor transformer and outlet pieces
Aug 9, 10:06 GFCI outlet charred
Aug 9, 10:07 Cap was broken while the plugs were pushed out - must be very forceful
Aug 9, 10:07 Low voltage transformer broken and fried
Aug 9, 11:04 UPS did its job to protect but won't turn on anymore
Aug 9, 11:04 second UPS got fried after
August 10
Aug 10, 10:49 House shaking took down the closet rack
Aug 10, 10:49 Closet rack collapse
Aug 10, 10:49 Broken pipe, pretty sure this was pre-existing which I had called out to Xcel before but now is the time to fix it I guess
Aug 10, 14:38
Aug 10, 17:34
August 11
Aug 11 - Centerville server, lost the OS and NIC, purchased an external NIC and reinstalled the OS, seems to be recovered after that
Aug 11, 10:04 Fried out coax joint box, the jolt traveled through the coax and fried all the electronics connected to it, two TVs, TIVO, and routers
Aug 11, 10:04 Close up damage
Aug 11, 15:57 Server salvaging
Aug 11, 15:57 Inventory of what I have
Aug 11, 15:58
Aug 11, 16:26 This Dell T330 refused to post, time for a refurbished one
Aug 11, 16:26 No visible damage but refused to turn on
Aug 11, 17:26 Attic Antenna - seems to be functioning
Aug 11, 17:30 Broken Coax cables
August 12
Aug 12, 14:10 HVAC temporary hot water
Aug 12, 14:10 - good intentions but never worked due to water pressure
Aug 12, 14:10
Aug 12, 21:16 My coax cable fix seems to be working, we recovered over the air reception
August 14
Aug 14, 09:25 Pressure testing the individual gas lines - great job by S & R in wiring and testing our gas lines.
Aug 14, 16:39 Outside gaslines after copper piping - hope these last longer and won't leak
Aug 14, 16:39 - Rewired outside gas supply
August 15
Aug 15, 00:37 Backyard after replacing all the low voltage lights
Aug 15, 00:37
Aug 15, 00:37
Aug 15, 07:19 Before
Aug 15, 22:33 After spending the whole Saturday putting the rack closet
Late August
Aug 17, 16:46 Next door neighbor spotted this split tree, not sure that was the direct hit or a partial hit
Aug 18, 07:55 Refurbished replacement Dell T630 server is back to serving
Aug 22, 22:17 Tucker and Zoey are enjoying the backyard lights
Aug 22, 22:18 Backyard lights are shining on the bird feeders
Aug 28, 11:58 Replaced Circuit Breaker - it was charred
October 24
Oct 24 - Basement fireplace is fixed and working as before
Oct 24 - Living room fireplace's pilot light is cleaned and working as before
Oct 24 - Porch fireplace; all the electronics are replaced, the flex cable is attached and now in action, thanks Beneath The Mantle
All in all, we have pretty much recovered most of our losses, but wish that we never go through this again. Dealing with insurance, vendors, HVAC, electricians, gas companies, Xcel Energy, the City, WBL-FD, much thanks for helping us out.