Lightning strikes homes in metro Detroit

ROMULUS, Mich. – Storms packed with thunder and lightning swept through metro Detroit early Wednesday morning, leaving behind charred damage.

Michelle and Rodney Milne say they couldn't believe what they heard early Wednesday morning outside their Garden City home.

"Oh, like a bomb went off. Not just lighting or thunder, it sounded like a bomb," Rodney Milne said.

But it wasn't a bomb that rocked their home, it was lightning. It knocked off their power and blew the plaster right off one of their walls.

"The wife started yelling that she smelled smoke. We got up. The lights wouldn't work," Rodney Milne said.

The couple said it only took them minutes to get out.

"We just grabbed some clothes on, grabbed the cat and ran out of the house," Michelle Milne said.

In Romulus, families in the Barrington Apartments had to also leave their building in a hurry after lightning struck the roof. No one was hurt, but some were a little shaken up after an unexpected wake call.

"We just smelled smoke and people yelling, ‘Fire. Get out,'" said Brandi Stebbins.
Only two vacant units were damaged.