Lightning strike causes Rainy River tree to explode

By Jack Elliott
Correspondent

An intense electrical storm rolled through Rainy River around 5:00 pm Thursday afternoon, May 29. Many local lightning strikes were noted including one at 512 Little St, two blocks north of the CN tracks.
A large tree approximately two feet in diameter was blasted apart with large slabs of the trunk thrown into neighbouring yards. Resident Terry McQuaker reported no one was home at the time and there was no other readily apparent damage.
About eight tenths of an inch of rain fell during the storm and throughout that evening.
There were no power outages reported but the lights did flicker once during the electrical storm.
McQuaker called the Record twice the evening it happened and reported that the tree in his yard had virtually exploded.
Elsewhere in the community, Dr. Albert Beller reported substantial damage to some components of the new computer system at the Rainy River Clinic. Two computers and a network switch were knocked out in spite of the system components being fully protected with surge suppressors. The main server was not damaged.
No other damage was immediately reported, but residents should check their systems to make sure they are still operating correctly.