Damage in West Hampstead
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LIGHTNING blasted a top floor flat in a storm causing bricks to fall four storeys into the street and disrupt computer systems in local businesses.
Chunks of white masonry crashed down into the street after the bolt from the blue in West End Lane and Broadhurst Gardens.
The force of the strike had a mysterious impact on some businesses – blowing out fridges, wifi, gas supplies and discombobulating computer systems.
Firefighters cordoned off the road and checked the roof for damage with their 32-metre ladder on Saturday afternoon.
Scott Thomson, 24, said: “I was sitting in the coffee shop writing and it sounded like a bomb had gone off. I’d never heard thunder and lightning so close together. It was really dramatic.
“Everyone in the café gingerly went and stood by the door. Eventually some of us went out into the street. There were two or three large chunks of rubble. I didn’t know lightning could do that.”
He described the weather as “strange with really heavy rain turning into hail”.
The fallen debris
Staff at the NISA Local in West End Lane said phone lines, internet, fridges and digital systems were blown out by the lightning.
Residents in NW6 had been shocked out of their afternoon slumbers when a flash of lightning was followed in a split second by a boom of thunder.
Cloud-to-ground lightning is a natural phenomenon where movement of particles in clouds create static electricity that discharges a giant spark at high force.
Thunder is a shockwave created by the lightning clap from the clouds.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “Firefighters were called to reports of a smell of burning following lightning striking a shop with flats above on West End Lane in West Hampstead on Saturday.
“Crews investigated and found no signs of fire. Firefighters used a 32-metre turntable ladder as an observation tower to assess damage to the roof and remove loose masonry to make the scene safe. The brigade was called at 3.22pm and the incident was over for firefighters by 4.30pm. Crews from Willesden, Kentish Town and Paddington fire stations attended the scene.”
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