Nyack building struck by lightning as storm batters region
NYACK – Firefighters battled torrential rains Wednesday night while responding to an apparent lightning strike in four-story building on Main Street.
"We were sitting upstairs watching some T.V. after work and lightning hit the roof," said Doug Fowler, a resident of 163 Main St. "We started smelling smoke and about five minutes later I went downstairs — I live on the fourth floor, I went to the third — and it was full of smoke."
The first floor of the building is home to the Patisserie Didier Dumas, a French bakery. Fowler, 32, said the three upper floors are residential and that everyone living there was able to get out of the building without issue.
Firefighters from the Nyack, West Nyack and Congers fire departments responded to the scene shortly after the 7:30 p.m. strike. By about 8:35 p.m., the situation had been placed under control. Officials reported no serious injuries.
Jackie Smith, who was inside with Fowler when the strike occurred, was a bit rattled by the experience.
"It was really scary, smoky," the 29-year-old said. "It was really loud when it hit the roof. We ran out because there was smoke everywhere. It was scary."
The incident occurred as heavy rains battered the region Wednesday evening. After the storm began, firefighters across Rockland responded to numerous weather-related calls.
At 9:30 p.m., Orange & Rockland Utilities, Inc., reported more than 3,300 homes and businesses affected by power outages — mainly in the Haverstraw area.
Dave Dombek, a senior AccuWeather meteorologist, said the storm dropped about 1 inch of rain over most areas, but that estimates in some southern sections of Rockland and Westchester counties went as high as 2 to 2 1/2 inches.
"Thunder. Lightning — a lot of lightning. Downpours and flooding on the streets and highways. There was a little bit of wind damage, but it wasn't that extensive," Dombek said. "Most of the storm reports I'm seeing involved flash flooding. So much rain came down in such a short period of time that it caused flash flooding."
Dombek said scattered storms would persist overnight and likely intensify Thursday, with severe storms developing in the afternoon and evening.
"Round two comes tomorrow," he said. "It won't be quite as hot as it was today or yesterday, but with that heating in the air and the humidity combining with a system coming in from the west, we'll likely see scattered storms around in the morning that will become widespread and heavy through the afternoon and evening."
Dombek estimated the worst weather Thursday would occur between noon and 8 p.m.