3 Ways Lightning Can Damage Your Home

6/13/2022 (Permalink)

The risk of a home lightning fire is real.

Three Ways Lightning Can Damage Your Home

The risk of a home lightning fire is real. In the United States, this type of severe weather frequently occurs during the summer months in the late afternoon and evening. And although you cannot prevent these natural incidents, understanding how they could affect your home will help you prepare for the worst-case scenario. Here are three ways that lightning can damage houses.

1. Electrical Surge
Home electrical systems are vulnerable to bolts seeking to ground. For instance, as uncontrolled electrical currents move through your home, they may damage or destroy electronic devices plugged into an outlet, such as computers and televisions. Wild voltage may even affect wireless gadgets. So, unplug your phone or tablet if you need to connect to the internet during a storm.

2. Blast Wave
Better known as thunder, the blast wave from an electrical flash can rip through external brick walls and windows and continue inside to destroy drywall and plumbing. This opening in the home can then let rain in, further damaging your house. Moreover, blast waves are so powerful that they can carve deep furrows in your yard and rupture your home’s foundation. Sometimes this type of damage is irreparable.

3. Lightning Fire
A house fire is the scariest possible result of a strike. Wooden homes and roofs are more susceptible to fire than those made of brick or stone. But, fire can damage any modern home with electrical wires that can channel flames through the building. In addition to the risk electrical surges impose on structures, surrounding landscaping such as trees and mulch can also be set alight. Then these fires might spread to your home. If your home is damaged, hire fire restoration experts in Great Hills, TX.
A lightning fire can seriously damage your home. However, knowing how these fires behave will keep you and your family safe.