More than 1,800 Hollywood residents temporarily lost power Monday after a power line fell.
"We're 99 percent sure that lightning caused this," said Steve Neville, a Florida Power & Light Co. worker. "It affected a lot of people."
When the wire fell around 2 p.m., it struck a fence behind a house in the 7400 block of Raleigh Street.
"It stayed energized," Neville said. "It went right through the fence."
When the wire fell around 2 p.m., it struck a fence behind a house in the 7400 block of Raleigh Street.
"It stayed energized," Neville said. "It went right through the fence."
About 300 customers were still without power two hours later, Neville said.
The power outage was not the only consequence of the stormy conditions.
Salesman Manny Ledo, 46, was visiting customers in Coral Springs when he received a call from a neighbor that his house was smoking. He said he returned to find his house in the 7400 block of Raleigh Street "completely flooded."
"Everything is under water," he said. "It's all flooded."
Hollywood Fire Rescue Capt. Matt Milone said it appears the lightning went through the ground and caused plumbing pipes to burst. He said a "smoldering fire" also caused light smoke to waft from the rear of the house.
A fire rescue crew cut into parts of the wall in the back patio to find the source of the smoke. The damage to the house included some charring , Milone said.
Steve Chambers, 55, said he heard big booms and then immediately lost power. Chambers said his house in the 2600 block of North 74th Avenue was without power for more than two hours.
"There were big explosions like a transformer going off," he said. "All of my animals scurried off and hid."
