A horse died instantly when it was struck by lightning during
a vicious Southland thunderstorm yesterday.
Seven-year-old Jonty was struck by forked lightning in a
paddock on Auburn Rd, on the outskirts of Invercargill, about
2pm.
The strike came moments after Colin Russel and his
14-year-old daughter Annie, who were in the paddock working
with another horse, had ducked for cover to nearby stables as
thunder cracked overhead and hail fell.
"We we inside the stable when the lightning hit - it shook
the ground underneath us and the stable around us ... I've
never heard anything so loud," Mr Russel told the Southland
Times.
The lightning struck the horse in the middle of its back and
had burned a hole through both of the covers it was wearing,
Mr Russel said.
He had to juggle comforting his upset daughter with
contacting the horse's owners, Murray and Margaret Weir, of
Invercargill, who bought the horse about six months ago for
their daughter Katie, 13.
The storm left roads and buildings in the city covered
thickly with hail and the Fire Service dealt with 38 call
outs between 2pm and 3.20pm.
Flooding was reported as gutters and spouting blocked by hail
could not handle the deluge of rain which fell in a 10-15
minute period.
MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said the storm saw the
temperature drop from 15degC to 8degC and hailstones
measuring 5-8mm across fall.
