Thursday, July 19, 2012

Lightning Strikes Home of L.I. Olympian


Lightning in Wednesday's storm struck the Long Island home of Olympian Maria Michta, who is days away from heading to London to compete in the race walk.

The lightning struck her house in Nesconset, hitting wires and setting fire to two cars, the family told NBC 4 New York. The athlete tweeted, "that fire was at my house and we lost two cars."

"Thank God family is safe, house still standing... lost two cars but was able to save our American flag!" she tweeted.

The American flag was a gift from a neighbor after she qualified for the Olympics, Smithtown Patch reported.

Michta was out training at a nearby high school when the lightning hit, she said. Her mother and two younger sisters were home when they heard what sounded like an explosion. They saw two power lines fall to the lawn and burst into flames, and fled the house.

No one was injured, but a van and a car belonging to the family were destroyed by the fire. Michta's family, which has been working hard to raise money to defray the cost of her trip to London, is now worried about the added expense of replacing two vehicles, they said.

Michta plans to head to London next week.



By: NBC 4 New York

No comments:

Post a Comment