Lightning Strikes San Angelo Hotel

The bolt of lightning created two large holes in the side of the structure near the roof. San Angelo firefighters rushed Ladder 1 to the four-story building and could be seen dousing the holes with water by the time we arrived. Hotel guests were evacuated in the immediate aftermath.

Lightning usually strikes the tallest structure in an area and metal gutters where the holes were seen are often the conduit for the electricity to find its ground, as lightning takes the path of least resistance, according to the NOAA. Temperatures from a lightning strike exceed 50,000 degrees F — five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Accordingly, firefighters spend a great deal of time dousing the area of the lightning strike with water to cool the surfaces down. The strike happened at around 8 a.m. Hotel guests were allowed back onto the hotel just before 9. No injuries were observed.