Watch how man narrowly escaped death when lightning struck tree near him and caught fire

A Florida man’s Ring security camera recorded a moment lightning struck a tree across a street from his home while he was outside. According to WFLA, Rodney Murphy was turning his home sprinkler system off when the incident occurred. That was on May 7.

Murphy’s Ring security camera recorded the moment. And in the video, Murphy can be seen walking along his front yard when a loud and explosive noise startles him. The tree that was struck by the lightning exploded and got engulfed in flames afterward.

“It was so bright. That’s why I thought I was hit,” Murphy recalled, adding that he later played back his home security camera to check if the moment had been recorded.

“Sunday morning I was laying in the bed I said, ‘I wonder if Ring recorded that.’ So I start going through my phone and sure enough, it had the ‘crack, crack,’ it had the light on the lawn and then when I raised it up a little bit, you really saw a great big boom,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s wife Denice also said the video of the moment the lightning struck left her “stunned.” “If he had been a little further in the grass, he could’ve been hit,” Denice said. “What I heard was like a bomb had been dropped. The house shook and the bed. I was still in bed watching TV, watching the news and that shook.”

The couple also said there wasn’t any rain or storm in their neighborhood when the lightning occurred. “It wasn’t raining, the wind wasn’t blowing hard, nothing,” Murphy said.

A meteorologist with WFLA said what happened is what is referred to as clear air lightning. This unusual type of lighting happens when a storm is occurring miles away.

“I am so thankful and grateful that I still have a husband and he is fine,” Denice said. And on a lighter note, Denice said her husband’s new nickname is “Lightning Rod.”

If you’re outside when there’s lighting and there’s no safe shelter around, the CDC recommends that you “immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks.”

“Never lie flat on the ground. Crouch down in a ball-like position with your head tucked and hands over your ears so that you are down low with minimal contact with the ground,” the CDC adds.

You’re also not supposed to seek shelter under an isolated tree and not go near water bodies. You are further advised to “stay away from objects that conduct electricity.”