Tree- mendous lightning bolt slices old oak in two
THIS is the moment a lightning bolt hit a 150- year- old oak tree – splitting it in half.
It was captured by airport worker John Sired who was watching as a thunderstorm gathered over Crawley, West Sussex. John, who was in a Sainsbury’s car park, found the dashboard camera of his car had filmed the bolt hammering down.
He shared it with a photography group on Facebook where it was spotted by Jamie Hearnden who realised it was the same bolt that had destroyed the 70ft tree.
Neighbours said the lightning hit the oak in Our Lady Queen of Heaven churchyard at 3.10pm – the exact moment John’s footage was taken.
Jamie, 35, whose garden backs on to the church, said: “It was a lovely tree and it was completely split in half.”
John, 45, a cargo agent at Gatwick, said: “It was a massive bolt. You can see the trolley pusher jump out of his skin.”
Tree surgeon Lee Saunders, 44, dismantled the oak. He said: “The lightning smashed it to bits. We had to use a cherry picker to take it down bit by bit. It was about 150 years old. It’s very sad really.”
The bolt destroyed this 150- year- old oak in a churchyard, cutting it in half