Severe weather rolled through the Tri-State overnight, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and lightning and leaving behind widespread damage and flooding.
One area hit especially hard was West Chester, where lightning sparked fires in two homes.
Fire Chief Tony Goller says he is not surprised by the two destructive strikes, considering the amount of lightning produced in the storm that hovered over the Tri-State.
A home on Weathervane Way was destroyed when the second floor collapsed.
The home is part of a landominium neighborhood in the Wetherington Community. No one lives in the home but it was frightening for neighbors who worried it would spread to their homes. 9Newsbreaker Mark Sennet was there and captured home video as flames engulfed the home. Click on the video player to watch Sennet's footage.
The people next door to the destroyed home now have about an inch of water on their basement from the water used to put out the flames.
The second house fire was in the Beckett Ridge Neighborhood in a home on Woodbridge. The fire chief says a bedroom was destroyed and there is damage to several other rooms. Damage is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.
The owners of that house are out of town. Chief Goller says when no one is in a home that is struck by lightning, the damage often becomes more severe. He says this is because it takes longer for someone to detect the fire and call for help.
