A man has described how he was 'really lucky' to have been out when his property was struck by lightning.
Firefighters from Sprowston and Hethersett raced to the scene following reports of a lightning strike on a property on Worcester Road, Costessey, shortly before 7.40pm on Friday (October 18).
The lightning struck following a deluge of rain but fortunately Dalton Hewitt-Haynes was not at home at the time.
Ironically the 27-year-old had been watching the storm with his nephews at a family gathering, normally held earlier in the week, but which had been moved to a Friday.
Mr Hewitt-Haynes, a support worker, arrived home to find emergency services having been called out.
He said: "I came home and my neighbour asked if all my power was out.
He said he was told a "massive bolt of lightning came down and hit my roof".
Mr Hewitt-Haynes said it was "really lucky" he had not been home at the time.
He said: "It was a major shock. If I had've been it watching TV it could've been very bad."
He said the strike has left scorch marks in the loft of his property and also resulted in some of the joists in his roof being split, such was the ferocity of the hit.
Roof tiles and other debris can be found on the floor outside the property near an area which has been cordoned off by firefighters.
Apart from his cooker, Mr Hewitt-Haynes said no other electrical appliances are working.
He said: "Everything is fried, everything - TV, XBox. It's all gone, even my record player. I think I've got my cooker and that's it."
His neighbour Stuart Hawkshaw, 43, also missed the drama.
Mr Hawkshaw said he came home and was told everything, including wi-fi, had gone off following the lightning strike.
He said his neighbour told him the lightning hit the roof before it "hit his car and went into his house".
A number of people living in the area have lost power on electrical items although workmen had been called out on Friday and were expected to be there over the weekend.
A spokesman in the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) control room said there was no fire but crews who attended "just made sure the property was safe".
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