Lightning strike damages Hyrum front yard, knocks out power and natural gas line

HYRUM, Cache County — A lightning strike to a tree in Hyrum Monday night caused significant damage to a front yard, knocked out power and damaged an underground natural gas line, prompting evacuations in the neighborhood.

The lightning struck the tree in the front yard of a home shortly after 7 p.m., according to the homeowner, Jean Cefalo.

"It hit so hard, our house felt like it was lifted off the ground," she said.

The lightning sent electricity into the ground, damaging both underground utility lines.

"Yeah. Lightning struck the tree behind us. It carried the current down into the ground. Melted the gas line," said Blake Ballard with Hyrum City Light & Power.

Natural gas leak prompts evacuation

Cefalo said she and others knew something was wrong immediately after seeing the lightning.

"We saw the flash. So we knew it was lightning. So we came running out here. It was pouring, pouring, pouring. Couldn't see. Made sure the house wasn't on fire. And then all of a sudden, we started smelling the natural gas," she said.

The damaged underground natural gas line prompted an immediate evacuation of the area.

Neighbors were told to leave their homes, but could not leave in their vehicles because of the potential danger from the gas leak. One neighbor told KSL she ran barefoot down the street to get away from the area.

The lightning strike also knocked out power in the neighborhood.

"We had to reroute some power, so they could get it fixed. But we, yeah, lost a few power lines in the mix," Ballard said.

Crews work to restore utilities

Because the lightning strike knocked out power in the neighborhood, there was no video of the tree being struck, including from doorbell cameras that would not have been operating during the outage.

Neighbors said they did not mind the inconvenience caused by the outage and evacuation. They were mostly grateful that no one was injured and that no homes caught fire.

Hyrum City Light & Power crews spent much of Tuesday repairing the damaged gas and electrical lines and working to restore service.

"Yeah, we're trying to clean up what we caused last night with, trying to repair everything," Ballard said.

Power was restored Tuesday, leaving behind a damaged tree and a front yard bearing the evidence of the lightning strike.

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