Footage captured the moment a bolt of lightning hit a tree in Australia, followed by a blood-curdling scream.
New South Wales resident Jules Slingsby took the video from a balcony at her home in a seaside village, Lennox Head, in the Northern Rivers region.
In the video, torrential rain can be seen pouring and the trees are being blown by strong winds. A faint flash of lightning can be seen as the rain continues to pour.
Shortly after, a loud crack can be heard as another bolt of lightning suddenly hits the tree. Slingsby can be heard screaming loudly in shock and the camera wobbles out of focus.
"Holy f**k," Slingsby can be heard saying.
Slingsby told Newsweek it happened on March 6, a day where severe storms swept through the state.
In a caption to the video, which was originally posted on Facebook shortly after it happened, Slingsby wrote: "Holy f**k!!!!!!!!!!! it hit something!! This just happened!! F**k!!"
A commentator, Martin Corben, who also lives in the area said: "It was a crazy storm. We had rain falling at 150mm hour for a short time too."
In a response to another comment, Slingsby said she was "so scared, it was so so so loud."
"My whole body just felt strange covered in goosebumps... I think I'm a bit in shock really," she wrote.
Lightning usually hits tall objects, meaning trees are likely targets. Because trees contain moisture and sap, they are better electrical conductors and are especially prone to lightning strikes. When a tree is hit by lightning, the strike travels down its moist tissues, and its scolding temperature causes the water inside to turn into gas.
This can often cause an explosion, which can be seen in the video at the beginning of this article, as the tree turns a vibrant orange.
Trees that have been hit by lightning usually have a crack or slit running down the trunk. The impact can cause chunks of bark to be stripped off the tree. Afterwards, the canopy will become sparse and the leaves wilted.
Slingsby told Newsweek the tree has not yet fallen down but she guessed it is damaged "as it does have a tinge of black to it."
Torrential rain and storms have caused a flood-crisis across Sydney's north and southwest in recent days.
The government has described the severe, ongoing weather as a "one-in-a-thousand year event," The Week reported.
Many people across the area been ordered to evacuate their houses as the situation worsens. The day Slingsby's video was taken, communities across the coast braced for heavy rain that continued through to the next day. At the time, more than 70,000 people were subject to evacuation orders. Slingsby said she has been helping with flood relief efforts in the area.
