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Lightning

Started by annabelle 23 posts 10 min read

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annabelleMember since May-5-03 · 239 posts

Hi,I haven't been able to read the forum posts yet, but I wanted to explain what has happened so you all wouldn't think me rude.Thursday the house was struck by lightning. We were networked to my son's house next door, and when it struck here it came through the window, knocked a VCR tape off a table, fried my wireless internet, 2 computers, my printer\scanner, 2 tv's, the network hub, 3 outlets, my husband's garage, and then jumped next door through the network cable and fried 3 computers, 1 router, 1 printer and 1 TV next door. Then, if that wasn't enough, my daughter and I both have epilepsy, we started having seizures, (the neurologist said the electrical field rains down like a 'mushroom cloud'!), and today, when I finally got Road Runner connected, (my son says it's too dangerous to have the houses wired together anymore. Can't understand that.), I am having trouble with my laptop's video card. Dell is replacing my desktop and probably the laptop too, and the rest, in this house, is covered by insurance, thank God. The neighbor in the house behind ours said when the lightening hit our house had a red halo around it! So, I apologize for not answering, and for the length of this post. Hopefully, I'll be back on track soon.Annabelle

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RE: Lightning., SCL, Sep-08-03, 01:51 PM, (1) RE: Lightning., Emu Farmer, Sep-09-03, 11:21 AM, (12) RE: Lightning., kevarc, Sep-08-03, 02:12 PM, (2) RE: Lightning., Macster, Sep-08-03, 02:29 PM, (3) RE: Lightning., OTTODAD, Sep-08-03, 04:16 PM, (4) RE: Lightning., FireDragonLightning, Sep-08-03, 04:32 PM, (5) RE: Lightning., JivaGoswami, Sep-08-03, 05:38 PM, (6) RE: Lightning., henry3, Sep-09-03, 10:45 AM, (11) RE: Lightning., DRGWK36, Sep-08-03, 09:17 PM, (7) RE: Lightning., AlphaMaster, Sep-08-03, 09:41 PM, (8) RE: Lightning., smp11512, Sep-08-03, 10:02 PM, (9) RE: Lightning., hhdawrs, Sep-09-03, 05:01 AM, (10) RE: Lightning., sniper297, Sep-09-03, 12:07 PM, (13) RE: Lightning., rpicardi1, Sep-09-03, 06:25 PM, (14) RE: Lightning., hhdawrs, Sep-09-03, 10:27 PM, (18) RE: Lightning., rpicardi1, Sep-10-03, 05:16 PM, (21) RE: Lightning., dcmorris, Sep-09-03, 06:25 PM, (15) RE: Lightning., Mr Fred, Sep-09-03, 07:58 PM, (16) RE: Lightning., geekman, Sep-09-03, 08:58 PM, (17) RE: Lightning., jjsluce, Sep-09-03, 11:28 PM, (19) RE: Lightning., silvermeteor, Sep-10-03, 08:06 AM, (20) RE: Lightning., tomwhite56, Sep-10-03, 07:20 PM, (22)

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SCLCharter Member · 357 posts

RE: Lightning.

Wow! Just glad you're actually still here to tell us all this! That must have been really frightening. When my dad was a young boy his house was hit by lightning, and it blinded him - fortunately it was only temporarily.Hope you get things back on track ASAP.Kind regards
Ken
SCL/CSX A-Line Project

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OTTODADCharter Member · 2766 posts

RE: Lightning.

Kev said it !I too am glad to hear that you and your family are O.K. and we can look forward to some more interesting and challenging conversations !!! Take Care, O t t o

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DRGWK36Charter Member · 596 posts

RE: Lightning.

I haven't responded to many (if any) of your previous posts, Annabelle, but in my mind the last thing you need to worry about (especially now) is coming across as rude. You've consistently been one of the islands of courteousness in the forum since you've joined this relatively rude group (myself included ).Glad to hear all the important things are OK, and glad to hear your insurance will cover the rest.Andy

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smp11512Member since Apr-7-03 · 1295 posts

RE: Lightning.

Lightning – image 7

LAST EDITED ON Sep-08-03 AT 10:02 PM (EDT)

I am going to agree with Kevin as well . And I am sorry to hear about your house and all your lost possesions Southern Pacific will live on forever in the hearts of the Red and Gray Railfans Lightning – image 8
Shane Palus
smp1151@sbcglobal.net

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hhdawrsMember since Jun-12-03 · 76 posts

RE: Lightning.

It appears that your powers of attraction are unlimited!But really, Annabelle, you and your daughter might want to dress down and look a bit frumpy when lightning is leering at you. And always use virgin olive oil when frying electronics.Glad you got through it more or less safely.Aloha,
Herb

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sniper297Charter Member · 5559 posts

RE: Lightning.

I don't think dressing down would help, it's her magnetic personality that attracts the lightning. ZZZAAAAAP! Seriously, I once did a job (in my previous career as a residential/commercial electrician) for a lady that had a ham radio, both attaching a lightning rod to the radio mast and installing lightning arrestors on the main circuit breaker in the house. If you live on a hill or otherwise have the tallest house in the area, might be worth thinking about.

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rpicardi1Charter Member · 1001 posts

RE: Lightning.

Everyone should take the time to evaluate what kind of protection you have to against this kind of event ever happening. Lightning is nothing to take for granted.My system operates off an UPS power backup system. It offers protection to everything plugged into it. The manfacturer even offers a warranty against lightning damage.There is a place to plug in a phone line or your ethernet cable for surge protection from the cable modem. Note, you get no protection from the cable modem if using the USB setup.Additionally, I have also added a grounding rod for the cable. This was not done when it was installed - a connector is on the splitter for this purpose.Have had no problems during storms the past few years. However, with the buried utilities across the road acting as a target for lightning, I have had fried by lightning strikes a tv, there's no surge protectors available for the cable, three spike bars, a power supply to a portable phone, an older UPS charger unit, a portable radio AC power supply - still works on batteries, a fence charger, and several tripped circuit breakers. A friend, running a BBS before the Internet became popular, had all his servers fried by lightning.Note, the stuff plugged into the spike bars was protected from damage.SRV Ron

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hhdawrsMember since Jun-12-03 · 76 posts

RE: Lightning.

Hi, Ron:Back when a Kaypro computer, tiny green screen, and blinking DOS were the rage, I had all office equipment run from a UPS. Power to the area went down, UPS began beeping, FAX machine screamed, printer spewed blank paper, phone went dead. Then the UPS battery exploded and it's nasty goop seeped everywhere. Lost everything. Lightning had hit a utility pole a couple miles away and sent a huge surge back to the building via the 3rd wire ground. My puter wiz said that's not supposed to happen and the UPS wasn't designed to protect against that. (He may have been right, but he also sold me all the equipment...).I wonder if the later UPS could handle?Aloha,
Herb

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rpicardi1Charter Member · 1001 posts

RE: Lightning.

The new ones won't function and will display a ground fault alert if the ground wire is not properly grounded. The old one didn't have that feature as my ground wasn't adquate in this old 2 wire house, now fixed.I'm surprised about the battery failure other then the batteries in the UPS weren't properly vented and you ended up with a hydrogen explosion as a result of a spark from a short.My old unit blew a non replacable fuze and I fried the entire circuit board when I tried to jumper it. Only thing salvagable were the batteries.SRV Ron

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dcmorrisCharter Member · 114 posts

RE: Lightning.

Wow! What a scary experience. Glad you and your family are OK. And, as to the length of your post, firstly it was not long, secondly, I, for one, enjoy hearing from you and like your style so you can make them as long as you like.
Maybe your friends on other forums would like to hear from you and know you are OK.DC

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Mr FredMember since Apr-6-03 · 79 posts

RE: Lightning.

Glad you're all okay.In one of the other train forum in which I participate (over at NERR) one of the forum-ees decribed his experience with a tornado that passed right over his house. Very scary!Hope you're up and running again soon!

Mr. Fred

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geekmanCharter Member · 280 posts

RE: Lightning.

Now that's scarey!!Thank heaven you and your family are all safe and ok - and that most of your expenses will be covered by insurance. Annabelle, you're darned lucky to still have a roof over your head. Someone up there must be looking out for you. Granted, it was and will be quite an inconvenience for a while, but compared to what might have been - wow!Anyway, I'm glad you're back with us - and I just want to say one thing before I go: I seriously doubt you could be rude if you tried!PS: Did you know that smoke is what makes most electrical things operate? It's true. When you let the smoke out, they stop working. Isn't that so??Take care -Larry Steiner

Growing old is mandatory;
Growing up is optional.

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silvermeteorMember since May-20-03 · 180 posts

RE: Lightning.

Annabelle,It is nice to hear from you again. I believe that most of us cranky old (and young) guys around here benefit from your insightful questions, your intelligence and, most of all your tact.This is a world sized room filled with guys that could all be quite at home in the movie "Grumpy Old Men" or its' sequel "Grumpier Old Men" and you serve as a ray of sunshine.I too, am glad for your personal safety and that of your family. You are a gem and irreplacable. Besides, now is your opportunity to get a new and better computer! It's good to hear from you!RickPS: Kevin said it quite well!Rick, President/CEO
Blue Ridge & Allegheny RR

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tomwhite56Charter Member · 32 posts

RE: Lightning.

Time to move.Just kidding.I remember when I was a kid in New Jersey (where DO you live?) a lighting bolt struck directly into our back yard. The flash was right there in the window and the thunder blast was instantaneous, and the most fightening noise I can remember. That's NOTHING compared to your experience!Like everyone else, I'd like to saat that it's good to know that everyone is OK.

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