Atascocita-area man captures lightning strike on camera, feet away from him
ATASCOCITA, Texas (KTRK) -- Justin Howard had an experience he'll never forget. He was almost struck by lightning and caught the entire thing on his cell phone.
Howard was sitting outside, watching as a storm was rolling in at his home in the Atascocita area. He says he was capturing a heavy downpour with his phone's camera and posting to Instagram, when the next thing he knew, a bolt of lightning struck a 50-foot tree in his front yard.
"I'm sitting in a metal chair and I jumped up," Howard recalled.
He says he watched as a fireball spiraled down the tree's trunk. The lightning split the tree in half and knocked off branches.
"The crazy thing, I got it caught on camera!" Howard said.
Howard wasn't seriously hurt, but he says he is sore from it.
"I was a pro fighter for years. I feel like I had a really hard sparring match, like my bones are achy," he said. "I just feel like, I feel punched. It was the craziest, weirdest feeling I've ever felt."
Although Howard was able to shake it off, he feels fortunate to not have been hurt or worse.
"I think God was saying something... go back inside the house," Howard said.
You can watch the incredible video Howard shot of the moment in the video player above.
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