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Lightning strike in Peel
STORM DAMAGE: Peel resident Ron Dobbie inspects the damage to his bedroom ceiling after his house was struck by lightning on Wednesday morning. PHOTO: John Maddrell JM121017 (107).
A PEEL couple received the shock of their lives when a bolt of lightning struck their house.
Ron and Jeanette Dobbie, both aged 71, were in their house in Ramsey Road when it was struck by lightning.
It caused a two-foot hole in the roof.
Jeanette said: ‘I was in the bedroom and my husband was in the bathroom.
‘There was thunder and lightning and hailstones and then there was just an almighty bang.’
She said: ‘I was absolutely terrified. I was shaking because at first I didn’t realise what it was.’
It happened at about 10.05am. With a strong smell of burning, the couple could tell it had blown the electrics.
Jeanette added: ‘It’s come down with such a wallop there’s bits of plaster everywhere.
‘At least we are alright. The house can be sorted.’
A survey will be carried out to assess if there was any additional damage.
She said a nearby house had also been bit, but not as badly damaged, and that neighbouring properties had lost their phone lines.
The wet and windy weather caused havoc around the island.
Mill Road in Peel was closed due to flooding and police warned that Leigh Terrace in Douglas was ‘passable with care’.
The Steam Packet’s afternoon’s Manannan sailing to Liverpool, and the return journey, were both cancelled.
Both Manx Electric Railway and Snaefell Mountain Railway services were suspended for the day.
There were also power cuts in Greeba, East/West Baldwin, Crosby, Union Mills and Marown.
A Met Office spokesman said: ‘We have had just about everything you can possibly imagine weather-wise today, stopping short of snow.
‘There was heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail mixed into that. On top of that there has been some coastal flooding, certainly in Castletown.’
Meanwhile, a waterspout – a funnel-shaped cloud occurring over a body of water – was pictured over Douglas Bay by iomtoday reader Ben Brooker.
Ben, who lives in Spectrum Apartments, on Central Promenade, Douglas, and runs office delivery service be.FOOD, said: ‘It touched down and kicked up some spray.’
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Weather for Isle of Man
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: North west
