A lightning strike on a residential building has caused damage amounting to millions. One bolt hit the roof, while another struck the ground nearby, lighting up the sky with a massive flash and shaking the earth beneath.
The powerful storm in January left the Garðakot farm in Mýrdalur, Dyrhólahverfi district, devastated. The impact extended beyond the main house, affecting surrounding buildings and neighboring farms, all of which suffered significant damage.
A Close Call
Vigfús Páll Auðbertsson, a resident of Garðakot, recalls the terrifying event. He and his wife, Eva Dögg Þorsteinsdóttir, were abroad when the storm hit.
What they didn’t know at the time was that their 16-year-old son had been in the barn when the lightning struck.
“Our top three concerns were, first and foremost, that no one was hurt,” Auðbertsson says.
A Home Left Uninhabitable
The storm hit Mýrdalur on January 23, rendering the family’s home in Garðakot unlivable for three weeks. It was only last week that they were finally able to return after extensive repairs.
“Lightning struck our house, creating a hole in the roof and causing severe structural and electrical damage. Almost our entire electrical system was destroyed, along with most of our household appliances,” Auðbertsson explains.
The force of the lightning was so intense that an electric meter exploded from the panel and shot through a nearby door.
Damage Beyond the Main House
The destruction didn’t stop there. The lightning’s impact spread to other buildings on the property, including a guesthouse.
“In the guesthouse, electrical switches burned out, and a partition wall split in two because a communication cable from the main house ran through it. The cable burned, causing the wall to crack apart,” he describes.
From there, the electrical surge continued to Ey Collection, the art studio owned by Auðbertsson’s wife, before reaching the barn, where it caused wires to explode. Every structure on the farm suffered damage.
A Near Disaster in the Studio
A finished painting in the art studio came dangerously close to being lost.
“The heat pump on the wall behind it was blown apart, but miraculously, the painting survived. Losing that would have been devastating,” Auðbertsson says.
A Wide Impact
The family’s son, who had been staying with his grandparents on a nearby farm, was just minutes away from being in the house when disaster struck.
“He had been tending to the sheep in the barn and was standing on the steps of their house when the lightning hit. If he had left a minute or two earlier, he would have been right in the middle of it,” Auðbertsson reflects.
Neighbors described the moment of impact as terrifying.
“Everyone in the area felt it. The ground shook. One of our neighbors saw the strike and said the house looked like a fireball,” he recalls.
The Cost of Recovery
While the house is insured, the estimated damage runs into millions of ISK.
“We heat all our buildings with heat pumps, and every single one of them burned out. Just replacing the pumps costs about four million ISK, and that’s before considering all the labor and other repairs. The entire electrical panel in our house is beyond repair,” Auðbertsson says.
Inside the home, traces of fire and scorching are everywhere.
“The lightning struck our water pipes. Under the kitchen sink, the garbage drawer was blown onto the floor. The electrical connector for the dishwasher was burned and ripped from the wall. Even the taps and bins under the sink were scorched black. Strangely, the cardboard recycling bin, though burned, didn’t fully catch fire,” he describes.
A Wake-Up Call from Nature
The destruction didn’t stop at Garðakot. Farms in the area also suffered electrical damage, with computers, stovetops, and ovens burning out due to the surge.
“This was a reminder of the sheer power of nature,” Auðbertsson concludes.
Source: Icelandmonitor.mbl.is
