Miami-Dade family opens up about close call after lightning strikes tree at their home

A brother and sister in southwest Miami-Dade are sharing their story with CBS News Miami after a tree right next to their pool was hit by lightning during Thursday afternoon's storms.

Amy Rodriguez gave CBS News Miami a look at her backyard. The tree was split into pieces across the place. Her kids, son Jameson and daughter January, were home at the time. Surveillance video from inside the Rodriguez home shows son Jameson taking a selfie with the dog before lightning hit.

"All of a sudden, there's this white blinding light for less than a second, and this huge sound that sounded like an explosion in my own backyard," Jameson Rodriguez said.

Jameson jumped off the sofa in the family room. January, however, needed a moment to get her bearings.

"I saw a huge bright white light that, like, blinded me for a minute, and then I heard the sound, and it was so loud, like it was like an explosion in the backyard," she said.

The lightning bold redded the tree that stood tall in their backyard, sending debris flying. 

"A big branch was in between the tree that was split, and then a branch fell on our fence, which broke," Jameson said, "broke some of the fence with our neighbor's yard too."

Both siblings said looking at the damage was surreal for them.

"Lightning isn't really seen as such a big deal because it's such a low chance," January remarked. "People think it won't actually happen to you until it does."

The family said the next step is to get the backyard cleaned up and the fence fixed.