By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Statistics exist on the chances of being struck by lightning in your lifetime. While the chances of a house or building be struck would reasonably be higher, you would still be left in disbelief if your city home was hit. That is the state of mind that Angelina and David Morgan are in now after their Ellinwood home was struck by lightning late Wednesday, Aug. 2.
Lightning struck
the top of the house and a fire started in the attic. Ashlie Thomas, a daughter
of the homeowners, said the incident occurred around 11:30 p.m.
“My parents heard the thunder but imagined it was a couple blocks away,” said
Thomas. “About 10 minutes later, they heard this faint beeping. They went to
look and found out it was the smoke detector going off upstairs.”
David Morgan found the entire upstairs engulfed with smoke and called 9-1-1. The
couple was able to get themselves out of the house, their dog and a small “emergency
bag” of belongings. Thomas said it could have been much worse.
“Thankfully, by the grace of God, my 18-year-old sister’s room is right where
the lightning struck, but she happened to not be there that evening,” said
Thomas. “It would probably have been a way different story if she was.
She probably wouldn’t be here today if she was up in her room when it struck.”
The fire and smoke was mostly contained in the attic area, but because of the
amount of water used with hot spots reappearing because of the electrical fire,
the ceiling has been damaged causing water to fall throughout the house.
“The water from the hoses have made the house like a rain forest,” said Thomas.
“It’s seeping down into the next level of the home. It’s dripping everywhere.
There are just puddles. It’s going from the top to the bottom at this point.”
An insurance agent examined the house on West 4th Street in
Ellinwood, and Thomas said an adjuster will view the damage Friday. The house
was built in 1887, and Thomas’ parents have spent the past decade renovating
and modernizing the house.
“It was amazing to see what they did to that house over the years,” said Thomas.
“I think it’s going to be a total loss with all the damage from top to bottom. To
see all of their hard work go out the window is heartbreaking."
A GoFundMe page was created to help the Morgans while they are displaced from
their home.
“We’re very thankful and do feel God’s hand in all of this,” said Thomas. “He
was involved in my sister being in the right place and that my parents weren’t
hurt. The majority of all their belongings are destroyed, but you can never get
lives back. We’re thankful we still have each other.”