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Nice day for a wet wedding

October 25 2004

Sydney and the Hunter Valley bore the brunt of thunderstorms that swept the region late yesterday.

The wild weather caused transport chaos and power failures but also dumped welcome rain on Sydney's catchment area.

The storm originated over the central tablelands and was a clash of two powerful air currents. It moved quickly to the east, hitting Sydney and the Hunter Valley in what

State Emergency Services spokesman Phil Campbell called an "evil storm" .

A lightening strike on railway signalling equipment caused delays of about 40 minutes to Blacktown services, which flowed through to the western, Blue Mountains and North Shore lines. There were also delays of up to 10 minutes across the entire CityRail network. About 2000 Energy Australia customers in Harbord and Pymble lost power for about 90 minutes. There were also local blackouts on Sydney's North Shore, a spokesman said. Lightning strikes caused power failures across the Blue Mountains, Emu Plains, Penrith, Greystanes, Seven Hills and Fairfield. The storm dropped 53.5 millimetres of rain on Warragamba Dam in one hour late in the day - still only a drop in a bucket when it came to ending Sydney's water crisis.

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Lightning strike kills churchgoers

October 4 2004

From correspondents in Mankayane, Swaziland

NINE people, including a priest and five children, were killed when lightning struck the church they were attending in Swaziland, state radio has reported.

Radio Swaziland said the victims were attending a service of the Zionist Church at Mankayane, about 70 kilometres southwest of the capital when the accident happened.

"Lightning directly hit the church, killing the 58-year-old priest, five children, two men and a woman," the report said.

"Three of the nine came from a single family - a mother with her two children so you can imagine the trauma that the family was facing," aid Swaziland Red Cross spokesman Leonard Dlamini.

He said the nine would be given a mass funeral at Mbeka in Mankayane.

Six survivors were rushed to the nearby Mankayane Government Hospital where they treated for shock and later released. (Source AAP)

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Lightning strike kills climber

September 24 2004

LIGHTNING struck and killed an Idaho woman and injured five others as they were climbing the 4131-metre Grand Teton.

The thunderstorm moved in while the climbers were on Grand Teton's Exum Ridge.

Park spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said Erica Summers, 25, her 27-year-old husband Clinton and four others were among 13 climbers who had divided themselves into four groups for the climb.

Each group had at least one experienced climber.

"They all felt rain sprinkles and they didn't sense a big storm," she said.

"In fact, they only saw two major lightning strikes and one was the one they were struck by."

Erica Summers was struck directly.

She was not breathing when one of the climbers alerted authorities by cellular phone.

Rangers were flown onto the mountain, one or two at a time, while hanging from ropes under a helicopter to evacuate four of the five injured.

Rangers had to rappel down to the fifth climber before he could airlifted to safety.

Four others in the group were able to climb down from the mountain by themselves.

Summers' death was the third in the park this year.

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Lightning strikes spark fires

September 17 2004

VICTORIAN firefighters will be on the lookout for undetected bushfires today after a spate of lightning strikes ignited about 15 blazes.

The south-west coastal town of Anglesea was placed on alert yesterday after lightning started two bushfires that burned more than 370 hectares of the Angahook-Lorne State Park.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) said strong southerly winds and further lightning strikes could start another round of blazes tomorrow.

"We've had lightning go across the whole state in the last two days now, so there could be fires that we don't know about yet," DSE state fire coordinator Max Coulter told AAP late yesterday.

"We'll be having fairly serious reconnaissance across public land (today) to make sure we find the lightning strikes that are still smouldering."

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Footballer dies after lightning strike

September 16 2004

A US high school football player injured when lightning struck the team as it finished practice had died of severe burns, authorities said.

Russell Pennington, an 18-year-old senior at Grapeland High School, died yesterday in a hospital. He was among about 40 players and coaches with the team in east Texas who were taken to hospital after the lightning bolt struck on Tuesday afternoon.

All the injured were treated for soreness, headaches, abdominal pains and burns, and all had been released yesterday, with the exception of one coach, who was in good condition, officials said.

Assistant coach Jerry Richards said about 40 players were running sprints when the bolt struck one player in the middle of the pack and others hit the ground.

"It staggered everybody," he said. "The force of it either knocked you down or knocked you backward several feet."

Grapeland, a town of about 1500, is about 190km south-east of Dallas.

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Two injured in lightning strike on house

August 18 2004

Two people on the Gold Coast have been taken to hospital after the roof of their house was struck by lightning and caught fire this morning.

Ambulance officers say a 60-year-old woman suffered head injuries when debris from the roof fell into her bedroom at Labrador.

An elderly man was also taken to hospital for observation.

Meanwhile, the weather bureau says south-east Queensland should enjoy heavy rain this morning while it lasts.

While falls of 12 millimetres are not usually cause for celebration, it is the first rain on parts of the Darling Downs and Brisbane for some time.

Senior forecaster Mike Bergin says the cloud band will move out to sea this morning.

"[The rain was] well fairly extensive, it comes from the eastern downs right across the metropolitan area," he said.

"We've seen falls arcos the metropolitan area as high as 12 or 13 millimetres.

"Wivenhoe Dam is probably the best we've seen - it's had 20 odd. But it's quite variable - south, there's only been falls down there [of] five or six millimetres."

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Unlucky 13 strike out

December 18 2003

A single lightning strike is believed to have killed 13 prized dairy cows at Fernvale, west of Brisbane.

Dairy farmer David Potter said he believed the lightning hit a tree the Friesians were under and they were killed in a "chain reaction".

"There was two big claps of thunder and when I went to get the cows, there were 13 of them dead under the tree," Mr Potter said.

"You could see where the lightning had hit the tree. It's just one of them things.

"We've had storms through here before with lightning and never had anything like that happen before.

"I've never heard of anything like this. It's ... just unlucky - unlucky 13."

Mr Potter, who runs a farm of 300 milking cows, said the dead Friesians, all under six years-old, were uninsured.

He said they would cost up to $1000 each to replace.

The cows would have produced about 300 litres of milk a day but Mr Potter said he had no immediate plans to replace them.

Mr Potter said the cows' deaths added more pressure after having to battle drought, increased feed prices and low milk prices.

He said recent showers were welcome but more follow-up rain was needed.

"It doesn't go very far at all, the paddocks are that dry," he said.

"It's turned the grass around now but we need a fair bit more of it."

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Lightning Strike at Mt. Hotham

December 15 2003

If you take a walk out to Mt. Loch during your Christmas / New Year break at Mt. Hotham keep a look out for snow pole number 50A. This pole received a direct lightning strike about a week ago and is now spread out in various splintered pieces over a 50M radius from the poles original location.

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