When Ford named the first electric F-150 truck the Lightning, we're 100 percent sure that it wasn't a reference to actual lightning strikes and the destruction they bring. But here it is – a Ford truck, specifically a Super Duty truck struck by lightning and burned to a crisp.
According to the original uploader of the images, Kristi Hughes Groover, the unnamed owner of the Ford Super Duty truck was a cabinet installer, presumed to be working on a project near the area. The truck's entire middle section or the cab area was completely destroyed and beyond recognition, though the front fascia looked unharmed.
The harrowing incident happened on Dataw Island in South Carolina during intense storms on one Tuesday afternoon. The truck was parked near a tree and according to eyewitnesses, as shared by the Explore Beaufort, SC Facebook page, the lightning bolt hit a tree, traveled down, and jumped to the truck. That strike started a fire, which caused the damages seen in the photos until it was put out. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), you are typically safe inside a vehicle during a cloud-to-vehicle lightning strike as "the outer metal shell of hard-topped metal vehicles does provide protection to those inside a vehicle with the windows closed." As seen in this incident, there's a bit of a wiggle room with that statement.
As NWS puts it:
A typical cloud-to-ground, actually cloud-to-vehicle, lightning strike will either strike the antenna of the vehicle or along the roofline. The lightning will then pass through the vehicle's outer metal shell, then through the tires to the ground.
To be fair, we're not sure whether the truck's windows were closed during the lightning strike. Moreover, the one that hit the vehicle was a second-hand strike coming from a tree and it caused a fire on a certain part, which caused massive damage.
As a general rule of thumb, anyone outside a shelter is at risk during a lightning storm, so if your situation permits, go inside during these situations – preferably inside the house rather than a car.
