My house got struck by lightning

Yesterday we had a really bad storm and our house got struck by lightning. Everyone is fine but apparently the cats and dogs went crazy when it happened. Apparently the cats were running back and forth across the house and the 2 dogs were sitting on top of my fiances dad and wouldn't get off (and one of the dogs is like 140 pounds).

Our phone line is completely dead, the company came out to look at it today but they didn't end up fixing it. Our internet is also broken, a few parts in the computer broke and the computer speakers are broken too. I am glad nothing happened to my tv, satellite receiver or video game systems. They are all expensive to replace.

I might not be around much, it depends on how long it takes until the internet gets fixed. Right now I am using a blackberry hooked up to the computer but I can only do that when my fiance is home because it costs a lot of money to use mine but because his phone is free it doesn't matter.

That's why my family raised me with the habit of unplugging things during bad storms. I hope everything gets fixed soon.

Originally Posted by J_F_A

That's why my family raised me with the habit of unplugging things during bad storms. I hope everything gets fixed soon.

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That brings so many memories of growing up in the Catskills for the summer. We had no cable and the antenna was up the hill. Every lightning storm, after the first one that blew out the TV, we unplugged everything. That did not, however, saw the TV from the squirrels chewing the wires.

hehe our power would go out at least once a year during storms. It could cause a fair ammount of damage. And when we went on holiday everything was unplugged too. Now we have special adapters and things so the important stuff can stay pluggedin. Granted there'sno lights and heating, but the main computer and tv will still work for a few hours It's the main reason why we had a real fire in the living room. Nothing worse than no heating in winter!

Whenever we have a thunderstorm which has been quite frequent I unplug most of the electronics.

Our house in AR got hit (well, it hit a few feet away), and it fried a TV and a microwave.

It's not the storms that are the main worry here, it's the unexpected brown outs and the power going off completely for no reason. A little hard to predict that - we could never have anything on or plugged in if we worried when the next one would happen.
It was one of those recent brown outs, barely a flicker at that, that ruined the motherboard on my other computer. (not sure I exactly have "another" computer... just collections of parts )



What was ruined in the computer? If it's a reasonably new computer you may be able to get away with just replacing those parts but if it's even just a few years old then consider salvaging what's still good and upgrading. "New" pc for a lot less cost.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

It's not the storms that are the main worry here, it's the unexpected brown outs and the power going off completely for no reason. A little hard to predict that - we could never have anything on or plugged in if we worried when the next one would happen.
It was one of those recent brown outs, barely a flicker at that, that ruined the motherboard on my other computer. (not sure I exactly have "another" computer... just collections of parts

)



What was ruined in the computer? If it's a reasonably new computer you may be able to get away with just replacing those parts but if it's even just a few years old then consider salvaging what's still good and upgrading. "New" pc for a lot less cost.

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I have three words for you.
Power supply adaptor.

If you go to an electrical store buy a power supply, it's basically a big battery. You plug it into your plug socket then plug your computers and tvs into them. What happens is your electricity runs through these and charges them as well as powering your hardware. Then when you loose power nothing happens except the stored electricity keeps your hardware running. Like a big battery.

In the short run it may be expensive, which is why I only recommend them for things like computers. But if you get a lot of these brown outs like I used to, then the money you save by expensive machines not blowing up more than covers the cost.

They allow you to safely turn off your machines.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

What was ruined in the computer? If it's a reasonably new computer you may be able to get away with just replacing those parts but if it's even just a few years old then consider salvaging what's still good and upgrading. "New" pc for a lot less cost.

Click to expand...

I don't know but my fiance fixed it I think. We just need to get the internet fixed.

We couldn't have unplugged everything because we were not home when it happened. We have like our own little apartment in his parents house and they don't come down here if we are not home so they wouldn't just automatically come and unplug everything.

Originally Posted by J_F_A

I have three words for you.
Power supply adaptor.

If you go to an electrical store buy a power supply, it's basically a big battery. You plug it into your plug socket then plug your computers and tvs into them. What happens is your electricity runs through these and charges them as well as powering your hardware. Then when you loose power nothing happens except the stored electricity keeps your hardware running. Like a big battery.

In the short run it may be expensive, which is why I only recommend them for things like computers. But if you get a lot of these brown outs like I used to, then the money you save by expensive machines not blowing up more than covers the cost.

They allow you to safely turn off your machines.

Click to expand...

And I have two words : Don't work... or at least not for long.

We've had three of them die on us over the years - that's over $100 each wasted. One stopped working within just a few months, and it wasn't a cheap brand. Also, one can't turn turn their computer off when not at home to do so - which was the case when that one brown out happened. I was at work. But to be fair, that computer had given me a few suspicious IDE errors months before so it was probably the proverbial straw. The real fun is going to be when DH is home and has to properly turn off my computer one days. Despite the directions and command being taped to the side of the case I know he's going to call...
What we need, and I intend to do once we get our own house, is different wiring on some of the outlets as no simple so called surge protector is going to help with what I suspect may be an issue with this town's power.


catlover - Do a thorough check of your hard drive for bad sectors. You may have a few and be able to prevent some problems if you catch them now.

Hey I just got hit by a storm really bad too, it blew out my motion lights when the lightning struck! It was scarry since we were standing right below it! Good luck and good :vibes!