A PROLONGED lightning storm, followed by a downpour of rain, swept across Fermanagh and other parts of the Province on Monday afternoon, bringing a break in the dry spell.

The lighting struck and damaged a house at Enniskillen but no one was hurt.

The heavy rain brought traffic almost to a standstill and telephone and power links were disrupted in Fermanagh and other parts of West Ulster.

Around three o’clock, at the height of the storm over Enniskillen, with lightning flashing intermittently, there was a loud explosion at the home of the Treacys at Drumlin Heights, Enniskillen.

The flash of lightning set the roof of the bungalow on fire, melted a plastic water tank in the attic and blew wiring systems from the wall.

Mrs. Fanchea Treacy told the Impartial Reporter that she was with her mother, 94-year-old Mary Nethercott, in a front room when she heard the loud explosion.

“I went into the hall and saw flames coming from the roof space. It had blown the phone sockets off the wall. The phones were knocked out,” said Mrs. Treacy.

However, her neighbour, Roy Johnston, arrived and helped to get her mouther out of the bungalow as the flames spread in the roof space and he called the fire service.