I don't think we had much (if any) chance of rain yesterday. I was sitting in a restaurant yesterday evening when the sky turned black. Shortly after, the wind was blowing hard, it was pouring...rain coming down sideways and thundering and lightning like crazy. People were in there joking saying, "Did Ivan make it over here?" Anyway, I saw a lot of cloud to ground lightning, with some being particularly close and the thunder so loud it scared children inside. Then I saw black smoke emerging into the sky about 2 blocks away. Everyone inside watched as fire trucks headed for the scene. We couldn't tell exactly what was on fire because a Marshall's store was in the way but we feared it was some apartments. I passed by when I left and it was an apartment complex that was struck by lightning. It didn't look like all of the complex had burned before they got the fire out so hopefully everyone didn't lose everything. No injuries that I heard of. Anyway, thousands of people lost electricity and trees were uprooted during the storm. I didn't lose power but I didn't have Roadrunner (internet cable) until after midnight some time and the cable went off and on all night.
A pic of an uprooted tree from a local news station, KFDM:
More Than 5,000 Entergy Customers Without Power After Surprise Storm
Reported by Angel San Juan
September 18, 2004 - 11:56PM
Saturday evening's surprise storm hit North Beaumont and Vidor hard.
A lightening strike caused a fire at an apartment in Beaumont, gutting the attic.
Strong winds uprooted trees in Vidor, specifically on Mill Street.
Trees were also uprooted in North Beaumont neighborhoods, on the streets of Pierce, Cleveland, and Coatsville.
As of 9:00 Saturday night, Entergy reported 5200 of its customers without power in North Beaumont and South Park.
Lightening struck the substation in South Park.
Power should be restored in Beaumont by 8:00 Sunday morning.
In Vidor, 227 Entergy customers were without electricity.
Power there should be back by midnight.
