OKLAHOMA CITY – It was a busy night in the metro area. Many families awoke early Friday morning to heavy rain, loud thunder and bright lightning over their homes.
At its peak, the storm produced 4,400 cloud to ground lightning strikes about five per second.
“The sky was just lit up non-stop,” said Deputy Fire Chief Chris Denton, with the Edmond Fire Department. “It’s random acts of nature. We just have no control over that.”
The Edmond Fire Department worked three calls about lightning strikes on homes, one causing about $10,000 in damage after it started a fire.
Oklahoma City crews worked about four lightning strike calls and one of those homes was a total loss.
“Protecting your home, that’s very difficult. Again, we’re dealing with Mother Nature,” said Chief Denton.
Outside Edmond Fire Station 5, they’re taking steps to prevent tragedy.
The flag pole outside doubles as a giant lightning rod.
“It’s really a lightning rod that we put a flag on. It’s designed for that, that was the intended purpose,” said Chief Denton.
Brock Bishop is the owner of Counterstrike Lightning Protection, a company that puts lightning rods on homes.
“This has got a copper lightning protection system. And you got to understand, the sole purpose of a lightning protection system is to intercept the strike and properly disburse it to the ground,” said Bishop.
Bishop installed the system on Eric Bell’s Piedmont home.
Bell’s home burned to the ground a year ago after a lightning strike hit it, causing a fire.
Bell and his wife are rebuilding in the same spot and made sure to include the lightning protection system.
“We definitely thought it would be a good idea to put them on, you know, to prevent this happening again,” said Bell.
The lightning rods look like little pencils sticking up off the top of Bell’s roof.
The rod is supposed to intercept the lightning strike and channel it down to the ground where the negative energy is disbursed.
“It’s going to hit no matter what. Now you got something there that’s going to take it to ground. That’s the sole purpose of it,” said Bishop.
Bishop says the lightning protection system costs around $1 per square foot.
So if you have a 1,500 square foot home, the system will be around $1,500.
You can find more information on the Counterstrike Lightning Protection website.