Lightning Fries Two Vehicles On Florida Interstate

Last Friday, “an intense thunderstorm” moved into the Sun City Center area,  just southeast of Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office shared a video showing the bolt first struck a pickup and then continued arcing in the traffic lane as a second vehicle drove directly into it.

The deputy’s vehicle was traveling to the left of the pickup and took part in the electrical charge.

“Her dashboard lights turned on, and then the entire car turned off,” the sheriff’s office reported.

“When she looked in the rearview mirror, she saw smoke. At first, she thought her tire popped, but as she, and other nearby drivers, pulled over she saw this video and the nearby lightning strike and realized it was the lightning that damaged the car.“

The unidentified deputy was not injured, officials said.

Michaelle May Whalen took the video from the car behind the pickup.

Whalen said the pickup in the video belongs to her husband and that it was “completely fried.”

This incident happened one day after an 11-year-old boy in the same county was struck by lightning while he stood on the deck of a fishing boat. The boy, identified as Levi Stock, was released from a hospital on July 4.

NOAA reports lightning flashes typically are “about 300 million volts and about 30,000 amps.”