"It sounded like a bomb just hit the car": Mom, daughter survive lightning strike
TAUNTON, Mass. -- It was a powerful encounter with Mother Nature for a woman and her 10-year-old daughter, CBS Boston reports.
Elly Alves had just picked her daughter, Amary, up from school when they saw what looked like a large fireball hit the side of the car.
"The lightning just went straight to my car and went boom," said Alves. "It was very, very loud."
"It sounded like a bomb just hit the car," the daughter told CBS Boston.
The tire rim absorbed the brunt of the strike and it now has a small burn mark. It also struck fear in both of them.
"The car was smelling, a burning smell, and it worried me a little," Alves said. "I thought the car was going to explode."
Alves stopped the car and they jumped out on instinct, running away from it.
"We panicked, we didn't know what to do," Alves said. "But then I said we better get back in the car."
Amary says as they continued to drive, the smoke still worried them, so they decided to drive to a police station and have the car checked out for reassurance.
"They said I'm very lucky it didn't hit the motor that the impact was on the rim," Alves said.
"I'm so lucky I said 'thank you God I'm alive,'" she said.