Lightning hit a brick chimney at Ann Arbor's Northside Elementary School on Wednesday at about 4:15 p.m., sending bricks flying 100 feet through the school pickup area. Fortunately, no one was hurt, as the area was vacant except for a staff member's vehicle which was damaged by flying brick.
I was aware of this when it happened because the lightning strike was powerful enough to cause the power grid to bounce, prompting comments on Twitter and speculating on the exact location. Phil Proefrock's photo published to Facebook tells the story.
Northside will be closed on Thursday for building repairs.
Media: Ann Arbor Public Schools news release. AnnArbor.com. Ann Arbor Chronicle, reporting on the civic news ticker that the chimney "crumbled" based on the school board report.
Lightning information: 24 hour lightning summary from Strikestar.
Photo from Phil Proefrock pending permission to include here.
Edward Vielmetti's Wordpress weblog 