No one was injured as the apartment unit was vacant at the time.
Lightning destroyed a single toilet in an apartment building in Oklahoma, US, during intense thunderstorms earlier this month.
According to Fox8, severe tornadoes and thunderstorms in parts of Oklahoma and Texas caused significant damage to some areas. In Okmulgee, a town near Tulsa, lightning took a different route, first striking the roof before coming through an exhaust fan and hitting one particular toilet inside an apartment unit.
Photos of the toilet have now taken the internet by storm. They show the toilet completely destroyed, with charred pieces of it scattered across the floor, below a black hole in the ceiling.
Citing Nexstar, Fox8 reported Okmulgee Fire Lieutenant Rocky Morrow called the incident “unexplainable”. Mr Morrow said that the lightning caused the bowl of the toilet to blow apart. Separately, Fire Chief Dewayne Hurt told the outlet that when the firefighters arrived they had to even extinguish a small fire in the insulation. The team also found a “slightly” burned rafter in the attic, which is where fire officials believe the lightning struck.
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According to Newsweek, no one was injured as the apartment unit was vacant at the time. However, new tenants were set to move in the following morning. It is to mention that experts have said that lightning can also travel through plumbing, which is why the National Weather Service (NWS) advises against using the shower, the tub, or even washing dishes during an electrical storm.
Meanwhile, images and videos of powerful storms that hit the region with lightning and tornadoes have been shared on social media. Earlier this month a tornado was filmed tearing through parts of the US state of Kansas, damaging hundreds of homes and buildings. Separately, a storm chaser captured the moment lightning hit his friend's Toyota Prius.