The Wave is still standing...

We stayed at a rental house in the 800 block of Ocean Blvd called "The Wave" while we were on vacation to Holden Beach this summer. The home has an inverted floor plan: meaning all the bedrooms & baths are on the lower level and the main gathering area is on the top floor offering up some seriously awesome views of the sun rising, which totally rocked.
One thing we didn't know is that this particular house happens to be one of the tallest houses on the West end of the island. This fact didn't turn out to be a good thing when a storm rolled in mid-week. We enjoyed a nice morning with lots of beach time & sunshine, then the clouds darkened and the skies started brewing. Everyone hustled inside as the rain started falling and most of us decided to call it a day, and start getting ready for our dinner plans.

It sure didn't take long for the light rains to turn into a heavy down poor and thunder to start rolling in. The storm was quick and fast and over in less than an hour. But it sure did leave it's mark on "The Wave". After a couple of claps of thunder, I heard the loudest cracking noise I've ever heard in my life and seriously saw a white flash of light go through the whole room I where I was standing.

Lightening.

Seriously, our beach house got stuck by lightening! Talk about crazy. Some of us had just gotten out of the shower, others were still in the shower, and two people where outside on a covered porch watching the storm. I mean, how many things have to line up perfectly for a house to get struck by lightening while on vacation!

Everyone ran out of their rooms making sure no one was hurt, we were all safe, Thank God. No visible fire or smell of smoke, so after the shock of it, we all thought the coast was clear, no need to panic.

A short time later, someone smelled something like burnt electrical wires and noticed the ceiling fan was dislodged from the ceiling with a burnt black ring around where it was hanging. Turns out lightening hit the house, splitting the beam that was supporting the ceiling fan. The strike also knocked out the Cable, and toasted the DVD player & surround sound audio.

The rental company was on top of things, sending out the police & fire departments to check out the house to make sure there was no dangers lurking in the attic, etc. It was quite a sight really, but a nice comfort to know that we were cleared to stay in the house the rest of our time while on vacation. Enjoy these clips from this crazy afternoon at the beach...



At least we will all have a great story to tell every year when we reminisce about the summer of 2009 at Holden Beach. The Wave Beach House. Hit by lightening, Seriously.