Lightning strike damages southbound lanes of US 41

WASHINGTON COUNTY (WITI) -- Washington County Sheriff's officials say the southbound lanes of US 41 north of Sherman Road in the Town of Polk suffered a lightning strike as storms rolled through on Thursday, August 22nd.

The call was taken by Sheriff’s dispatchers at 11:18 AM. When deputies arrived to the area, they found an approximately 18 inch deep, 3 feet long hole blasted from the asphalt road.

Deputies also handled a total of three vehicles that were damaged as a result of this incident.

One dump truck that was hauling granite appears to have suffered a lightning strike causing some of the load to be propelled from the truck. The strike caused the truck to lose power but the driver was able to steer to the shoulder area and off of the road. The driver was uninjured and the truck was later able to be restarted and removed from the highway.

Two other passing cars suffered wheel and tire damage by striking either the hole or up to 18 inch pieces of asphalt that were lying on the highway. They were assisted by local wrecker services and later left under their own power.

The highway department was requested and responded to the scene making temporary repairs to the roadway.

This resulted in the short term closure of one of the two lanes of US 41. All lanes were repaired and reopened after approximately 45 minutes