Updated 2 pm, Wednesday
A passing thunderstorm flooded Five Corners and turned sections of Beach Road into a stream Wednesday morning. Drivers were forced to navigate flooded sections of roadway as police and fire departments responded to call across the Island.
There was a call of a house in West Tisbury struck by lightning. The bolt ignited a fire in the fireplace, according to initial reports. Similar strikes were reported in Oak Bluffs and Aquinnah.
A motor vehicle was reported disabled in front of the Black Dog bakery on Water Street in Vineyard Haven further exacerbating traffic problems at the height of the passing storm.
Tisbury Police requested the state highway department shut down Beach Road between Main Street, Vineyard Haven and the Lagoon drawbridge due to flooding. The road was not closed.
Lightning struck the temporary Coast Guard beacon erected in place of the Gay Head lighthouse in Aquinnah, splitting its cement foundation, and subsequently arced to the Aquinnah Shop Restaurant, where it blew out all of the establishment’s computers and phones.
The Oak Bluffs fire department responded to a fire at a Summit Ave home started by a lightning strike. According to Chief John Rose, the lightning traveled into the dryer vent and ignited the lint. There was also smoke in the basement when first responders arrived. Lighting also struck the spire atop the building that houses Sharkey’s Restaurant. The same strike broke a window on the second floor of Phillips Hardware. No injuries at any of the locations were reported.
The Weather Service reported 1.65 inches of rain fell in one hour in Vineyard Haven.
Correction July 2, 11:31 – An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that lightning struck a spire atop The Game Room. It struck a building formerly known as “The Arcade” which now houses Sharkey’s Restaurant.
