Lightning struck a large Norfolk pine tree outside a St. Petersburg home on Saturday, scattering parts of the tree everywhere.
"We didn’t have much of a storm, but all of the sudden there was a huge bang and we didn’t know exactly where it was coming from,” said Howard Godfrey, who is renting the home on 40th Avenue.
The tree split in half, sending pieces flying into the road and neighbors' yards and knocking out the Godfreys' utilities.
"It was gut-wrenching because I saw these pieces of tree everywhere,” Godfrey said.
Fortunately, the tree didn’t do any damage to the house, but one of the limbs fell on a car parked in the driveway. It smashed the back window.
Some pieces flew into neighbors’ yards across the street.
"It looked like a war zone,” neighbor Steven Martin said. “The tree looked like it was bombed."
Godfrey said the homeowners are planning on having what’s left of the tree removed.