Photo / iStock
An Auckland man has described the "horrendous, phenomenal sound" of lightning striking his house during a thunderstorm this afternoon.
Barry Long's property on Huia Rd in Titirangi was hit by lightning during a storm about 4pm.
The sound was so loud that Mr Long thought a plane had crashed into his house.
"The whole place just lit up bright yellow and orange, it was very nasty.
"The neighbours' kids screamed so I put my head over to see if they were okay."
Mr Long's daughter and grandchildren, including an eight-week-old baby, live on the same section in a house in front of his, and he raced over to make sure his family was safe.
"They were all pretty upset. I couldn't see any smoke or fire or anything, but I called the Titirangi Fire Service straight away."
Mr Long said the lightning hit a power pole near his house and then bounced off onto the roof.
"It was hit pretty hard. The copper water pipe outside was on a hell of a angle.
"They got hit pretty hard too when it hit the pole it must've spiked the power supply for quite a few houses, they've got burn marks and power sockets blown out, and it's blown their hot water cylinder so they have water leaking through their house, so it's a bit messy.
"The guy across the road even had his door blown out."
Mr Long said one of his neighbours was without electricity despite being power dependant due to allow him to breathe.
They were using a power supply unit until the electricity was restored.
Mr Long is grateful no-one was injured as a result of the strike.
"We're all okay, but it was an extreme noise, I've never heard anything like it, it was just phenemonal. I honestly thought it was a plane that had crashed into the house.
"It's pretty scary, we've got three young kids living in the house in front, a 9-year-old, a 5-year-old and a newborn baby, there was a real concern for them, and the dog was going ballistic.
"I've never experienced anything like it, it was unbelievable."
Organisers of the hīkoi mō te Tiriti promoted a switch from the general roll.