Lightning bolt: 'It was like a bomb went off!'

Mr Sobin's yard. Picture: ORLANDO CHIODO

Storm clouds: Mark Isaac checks conditions at Wollongong City beach. Picture: ORLANDO CHIODO Slip'n'slide: Dapto's lzac Van Akker. Pictures: DAVE TEASE Chillin' out: Michelle Charlton (left), Kate Swan and Melissa Rutledge get a kick out of the hail. Heavenly: Courtney Stephens makes a hail angel. Snow white: Residents emerged from their houses after the storm to take in the surreal scenery.

Lightning bolt: 'It was like a bomb went off!'

John Sobin thought a bomb had gone off in his Dapto frontyard.So did his Emerson Rd neighbours.But the deafening explosion that shredded Mr Sobin's home, destroyed a caravan and damaged several houses nearby was not an act of man, but of nature.

SLIDESHOW: The great Horsley hailstorm

SLIDESHOW: Your photos of the hailstorm A large tree in Mr Sobin's frontyard was struck by a bolt of lightning at 3pm, sending wooden missiles - some weighing up to 10kg - rocketing off as far as 50m in all directions."It was like a bomb went off," Mr Sobin, 46, said."I've never seen or heard anything like it in my life."When the lightning struck, Mr Sobin was watching TV, one room back from the front of the house.The force from the explosion blasted shards of wood to where he was seated as his roof tiles rattled for several seconds.The two front bedrooms closer to the tree were left looking like scenes from a disaster."If anyone had been in bed, it would have killed them," Mr Sobin said."My heart is still pumping. There's giant holes right through my house. It's a wonder no-one was hurt."Neighbours had similar views on the zero injury toll. Had there been a driver on the road or someone standing on the footpath, they may well have died, was the common view.Houses across and down the road from Mr Sobin's, some 40m from the tree, ended up with chunks of wood on their roofs. The debris was spread in a large radius around the impact zone when the Mercury arrived on scene.A caravan in the yard next door to the tree was penetrated by branches that pierced through one side and out the other."The storm was right on top of us," the owner of the caravan said."It was like a sound you've never heard before in your life."My wife was watching out the window and saw purple and red and blue, then there was this explosion."Yesterday's storm also dumped significant hail over Horsley and west Dapto in a short but sharp burst that caused some flooding. Parts of Horsley resembled a winter wonderland.The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 15mm of rain between 2pm and 4.30pm at Albion Park.There was 8.8mm in Wollongong.The State Emergency Service sent five teams from Wollongong to the city's southern suburbs after receiving 35 calls for help between 3pm and 4pm."We've had quite a few requests for assistance, mainly due to roof damage and water inundation," SES Illawarra and South Coast business manager Janelle Carberry said.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

$0/

(min cost $0)

or signup to continue reading

See subscription options

Lightning bolt: 'It was like a bomb went off!'

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

Get the latest Wollongong news in your inbox