Lightning hits homes on Vancouver Island as storm swept across region

'Huge flash of light. Big bang and I felt a really big shock in my leg,' Cooper Preston, who was in the upstairs bedroom of his Courtenay home, told Global News.

Thursday night’s lightning storm was especially jarring for a Vancouver Island family when their home was struck. “Huge flash of light. Big bang and I felt a really big shock in my leg,” Cooper Preston, who was in the upstairs bedroom of his Courtenay, B.C., home, told Global News.

The roof peak of the home was hit by lightning, setting it on fire. Crews were able to put it out safely. Get breaking National news Cooper’s mother, Angie, called 911 and said that the operator told her another neighbour had called in and said their home was burning after the lightning strike.

“So we just gathered up our stuff and got outside,” Angie said. Luckily, Cooper says he feels fine. The storm also caused widespread flooding in the area and a few power outages from downed trees.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had this many calls at the same time in our area, and definitely a long time since we had an electrical storm go through the valley like the one we’ve just experienced,” Chief Kurt McDonald from the Courtenay Fire Department said. Fire crews from Cumberland and the Comox Valley were called in to help with the volume of calls in Courtenay.