Firefighters look for signs of smoke at My Sister’s Place after the London women’s
shelter was struck by lightning for the third time in about six weeks on Friday.
CRAIG GLOVER The London Free Press / QMI AGENCY
London women’s agency struck by lightning three times in less than two months
Maybe — just maybe — it’s all those hormones.
“There’s a lot of estrogen in this house,” says Susan Macphail. “The women have such strength and resiliency and they have so much energy, collectively. Maybe we’re such a dynamic, powerful group of women that we’re attracting lightning.”
She’s joking, of course.
But how else can the director of My Sisters’ Place explain how the Dundas St. agency for homeless and vulnerable women has been struck by lightning three times in the last six weeks?
The latest strike hit Friday morning, just before the agency planned to open for the day.
“We had (four) staff in the building, and they thought a bomb had hit the house,” Macphail says. “They said the force and sound of it was unbelievable. They thought everyone was going to die.”
No one was hurt, but the lightning ignited a small fire that was quickly doused by firefighters.
“No one can believe this,” Macphail says. “This is our third strike in about six weeks.”
Macphail says the east turret of My Sisters’ Place was struck by lightning in mid-July. About two weeks ago, the same turret was hit again. Then Friday, the west turret was struck.
But is that really plausible? Can the same building lure lightning three times in six weeks?
“It’s quite possible,” says Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist at Environment Canada. “These storms can follow similar tracks, they can go through the same area and as these unfortunate folks found out, it’s quite feasible you could be struck three times in the span of six weeks.”
Coulson explains that lightning normally seeks tall, pointy and isolated objects; the CN Tower is struck, on average, about 80 or 90 times a year. Coulson says he knows of a house in the Kitchener/Waterloo area that’s been struck multiple times over the years.
“The Windsor-London corridor is the lightning capital of Canada,” he says. “We get more thunderstorms in that part of Canada than pretty much anywhere else.”
Macphail says she recently spoke to several lightning experts about installing a preventative lightning rod system. And the building, on Dundas near Adelaide St., had already been scheduled to close this week (Sept. 23-27) to allow construction of a new elevator.
But although Macphail says My Sisters’ Place recently raised about $500,000 for its extensive renovations, all that money has been earmarked for specific projects, including a massive kitchen renovation. Now the agency that serves about 150 women daily must somehow find cash to replace about a dozen computers and seven phones that were fried by Friday’s lightning strike — and that had just been replaced after being destroyed by the previous lightning strike.
“Insurance will cover only a portion of it,” Macphail says. “I think the damages all told (from Friday’s storm) are going to be over $100,000.”
That’s why Macphail is asking Londoners to support what she quickly christened the “Lightning Campaign.”
“If people would like to donate to assist us with the additional costs, we’d be very grateful,” she says. “At times when we’ve been at the edge of almost closing . . . the London community has really supported us. And that’s why we’re here today, doing the service we’re doing.”
Macphail has to be practical, of course. But in light of recent events, she can’t help being a bit superstitious, too.
“Maybe three is the lucky charm,” she says. “But I’m going to buy a lottery ticket today for My Sisters’ Place.”
Lightning by the numbers
5,616 Visible lightning flashes in London (1999-2008)
4,033 Cloud-to-ground lightning flashes in London (1999-2008)
2.49 Average annual cloud-to-ground flashes in London per square kilometre
2.3M Average number of lightning flashes a year in Canada
Source: Environment Canada
- What to do in a thunderstorm
- “When thunder roars, go indoors,” and seek shelter in a building or vehicle
- Stay inside until 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder
My Sisters’ Place
- Located at 566 Dundas St.
- Provides food, shelter and counselling to women facing homelessness
- For details, call 519-679-9570, 1-877-859-0352 or visit www.mysistersplacelondon.ca
