Last night our tree was hit by lighting, I think...but...?

Question

did not seeit, there is tons of bark blow off the tree, plus a line/split down the middle. I heard what sounded like 5 shotgun blasts, during an awful lighting storn, lights went off for about 5 minutes, when they came on, had blown all the light bulbs, plus taken out three tvs and 2 dvds along with some small items, but like the big screen was plugged to the same outlet that the dvd major one was plugged into, the dvd is not workiing the tv is..how can this be? How can it have totally knocked/burnt out light bulbs?There is no ryme or reason for the items that were damaged and the ones that were not...and should I be concerned of anything smoldering somewhere? The tree did not fall, but is split about 15 foot right down the middle, able to actually see the hollow middle, even through it has leaves on it, which how danagerous is this now, as it hangs, about 40 ft. directly over three rooms iin the house? Also, whats the cost of cutting it down, as there is no where for it to fall

Answer 1

Lightning is some weird stuff, somethings are damaged, as others are not.  Your tree will have to be cut down.........but there is no telling what people will charge to do that.  It will eventually fall on the roof and possibly damage shingles......if you have them.  If you have insurance, you can call them and ask them if your policy covers to have the tree removed.  But you'll have to do something soon, don't have to be tomorrow......but sooner or later.

Answer 2

First, I would contact my home owners or renters insurance agent. They should cover the damage (at least in part) to your electronic equipment. The policy may also cover the tree damage.

Electricity follows "the path of least resistance" and you cannot necessarily predict what that is.

If you rent, also contact your landlord. I am sure that the property owner will want to protect his or her property.

The cost of tree removal can be quite expensive. By your description I would guess $1,200 - $1,500 for the job.

Answer 3

defineatly lightning, that same scenario happened to me and i had to buy 2 new tv's and 2 new dvd players and my cable company had to give me a new cable box because i was watching my tv when it hit and the cable box just smoked and practically almost caught fire. So defineatly lightning and it just depends on how long the job would take and who you get to do the job. Sometimes you can get it done for really cheap.

Answer 4

uumm ok the bark on the ground is a good indication that it was hit by lightening..it will more than likely die in the next two weeks..we had one hit by lightening last year..it circled the tree from top to bottom and bark was everywhere within the week this 30 foot pine tree was dead..we had it cut down it was 400 bucks and it was total tree removal..there was nothing to even show a tree  had been there when they were done...a few years before that...in the same area of the yard the three pine trees and the telephone and cable boxes are on a rise..the lightening came in thru the cable took out a big screen tv..a 20 inch tv in a nother room..the microwave the phone..those two things were on the same wall..and the stereo receiver...it was just  a surge..thank god for surge protectors is all  i can say..they did pay us for the estimate on the tv...the tv was already 10 years old we took that and put it down on a new one..we gave the tv to the place that was doing the estimate for parts because it couldnt be fixed..we didnt realize it hit the receiver till months later...the insurance company for the house told us that if we filed another claim within two years they would drop us..so we didnt even file a claim..cause they did what they wanted too which was scare us into paying it all out of pocket...good luck