Man struck by lightning
A man today described how a lightning bolt felt like a "bomb had gone off" when it blasted a hole in the roof of his home as storms hit the West Midlands.
Lightning struck the bungalow in Staffordshire, while a house in Walsall Wood was also struck by lightning which shattered a chimney.
Dennis Jones, aged 55, of Haig Close, Hednesford, believes his life may have been saved by a copper bracelet he wears on his right wrist.
He had just got home from work at 5.46 last night and was putting his work clothes in the washing machine when the bolt hit the ridge tiles blowing a 6ft by 4ft hole in the roof.
"There was a massive bang – it was like a bomb going off," said Dennis's 79-year-old father Horace, who had been watching TV.
"The electricity earthed through the washing mach-ine. The hospital say the copper bracelet helped earth it.
"I was thrown across the kitchen," said Dennis, who works for Portable Toilets Ltd in Hixon.
While the two men were recovering a neighbour call-ed the fire brigade.
"We did not realise at first that there was a big hole in our roof," said Dennis.
A Walsall Wood pensioner was settling down to watch Andy Murray's epic Wimbledon match when his house was struck by lightning shattering his chimney.
Brian Hone, aged 73, sat down to watch the tennis at 6.15pm but a lighting bolt sent chunks of his chimney flying across his front garden.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and set about dismantling the rest of the chimney.
The retired maintenance electrician said the firefighters finished just in time for him to catch the dramatic last few games of Murray's contest.
He said:"I heard this loud bang. It gave me a bit of a jump. I looked out of the front window and saw my chimney lying all over the front garden. The fire brigade came out and said they needed to take the rest of the chimney apart to make it safe."
