PEORIA — A lightning strike from Thursday morning's monsoon storms in the West Valley was caught on a homeowner's security camera and surprisingly didn't cause any damage.
Before the lightning strike, the monsoon storm woke up Hayley Aragon, a 16-year-old who goes by 'Hurricane Hayley' when she's dirt track racing.
It's perhaps a fitting name for when her family's Peoria home was directly struck by lighting after 4 a.m. Thursday.
"It struck the house, the house shook, my TV turned on, switched like a switch blade, just turned on," she said.
She's able to smile about it now because she said nothing at her home was damaged. The lights flickered a little bit, but they never even lost power, she says.
However, in that moment, it was something she's never experienced before.
"Oh it was terrifying, it was loud, it was shaking, it was bright, then everything... it went silent," she said.
Stefan Babirak lives across the street. He was outside when all this happened.
He says he's surprised there wasn't a fire or more damage.
When asked if his home saw any damage he said, "No, other than a tree branch in the back but you know, we will rebuild," laughing.
The only reason Stefan was outside Thursday morning was to take pictures of the trash cans floating down the street. He said it was like a lake on Sweetwater Drive.
His security camera caught the moment that lightning struck his neighbor's home and his reaction.
"A little flame came out, and as you saw, it excited me. I jumped back there, came back out, I started looking to see if there was a fire," he said.
The folks on Sweetwater Drive in Peoria escaped Thursday's storm with just a good story but the monsoon cause plenty of damage nearby.
Just down the street, part of the roof collapsed at the Bashas' supermarket near 75th Avenue and Thunderbird Road.
On the I-17 near Camelback Road, flooding made for a challenging morning commute.
For those nearly struck by lightning, what are the chances that happens again, right?
