Surveillance video shows Palm tree struck by lightning in Cathedral City
The Coachella Valley saw some large storm cells move across the region overnight. Residents in one desert city woke up to a frightening sight after what homeowners describe as a sonic boom.
Three palm trees, just feet from a home in Cathedral City, were struck by lightning and instantly went up in flames.
“It was like, ‘bam,’ chaos all of a sudden,” Joe Bebar told KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner. “This whole area here was like a flash of gray and white.”
Bebar lives across the street and happened to be outside watching the storm unfold. His home surveillance cameras caught the very moment it happened.
“You can’t see anything and you really can’t see the bolt because it happened so quick,” he said.
VIDEO: Viewer captures dramatic footage moment palm trees ignite in fire during lightning storm
He described the event as sounding like a sonic boom. On Tuesday afternoon, the smell of burned wood was still lingering in the air, and there was debris strewn about the lawn and roof of the home.
Bebar’s wife, Lisa, was ran out of her home in the moments immediately afterward.
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“They were knocking. Banging on windows and doors saying, ‘Get out, get out. Is anybody in here? Your trees are on fire,'” she said.
Other neighbors described the homeowners as “snow birds.” They were not around for the commotion but, thankfully, other people were.
“The community all pulled together, everyone was there for each other and that was really cool,” Bebar said.
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