Let's start with the good – lightning usually means rain - WE LOVE RAIN (to
a point). Did you know that lightning also produces nitrogen compounds, which are extremely important to our plants and trees?

The bad – Juli King, her parents and children experienced the dangers and
damage of lightning on the evening of June 6. After racing home to beat the storm, Juli proceeded to let her dog outside and heard the phone ringing. She went inside to answer the phone and as she was talking on the phone, she let her dog back inside.

A second after getting the dog in, Juli heard a large explosion and felt an impact on her shoulder that she won't ever forget. Lightning struck a tree outside in the same area Julie and her dog were standing seconds before.

The force stripped bark from the tree, broke the door handle of an aluminum door, knocked a deer mount off of a wall and displaced drywall nails from her son's bedroom wall. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and although some of their possessions were damaged, they feel fortunate that Juli and her family are safe today.

Electrical storms in the northwest can be awesome visually – the beautiful – but remember to view the storm from indoors to stay safe. Use surge protectors on electronic devices and appliances. In the rare case of an outage, keep flashlights on hand and remember your FEC team is working to get the lights back on as soon as possible.