Man struck by lightning as storm rips through Edmonton

A man was struck by lightning Wednesday as a sudden and violent thunderstormraged through Edmonton.

Alberta Health Services confirmed the man was struck in south Edmonton at about 2:30 p.m. and was taken to hospital in stable condition.

Early in the afternoon,Environment Canada issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Edmonton and the surrounding communities ofSherwood Park,Spruce Grove, Stony Plain,Morinvillle, Big Lake andVilleneuve.

Timelapse video of storm hitting downtown Edmonton

8 years ago

Duration 0:14

Video of the skies darkening and a storm moving into Edmonton's downtown.

Those warnings have since been lifted.

'We were like bumper boats'

At its height, the stormdumped heavy rain in the Edmonton area and caused flash floods.

Flooding was so severe in certain areas that somecommuters had to be rescued from their vehicles by boats.

ShawnaSerniakwas driving with her son,Trylan,when her vehicle became swamped and stalled at the 106th Street bridge on the Whitemud.

Semi's were going by by us and we were literally like bumper boats hitting each others vehichles.-ShawnaSerniak

"Two manholes had popped out on either side of the bridge and water was justwaterfallinginto that area," saidSerniak.

She said sevenvehicles were in total were stuck under the106thStreet bridge.

"Semi (trucks)were going by us and we were literally like bumper boats hitting each other's vehicles," she said.

Twitter video of water pouring onto Whitemud Drive

8 years ago

Duration 0:31

Lochlin Cross sent in this video of rainwater pouring down onto Whitemud Drive.

"I quickly called 911 because I knew we weren't going anywhere and the water was coming in. And I was worried that it was going to get worse and we might have to be rescued out of the vehicles."

Serniak was right. The 911 operators told her to stay put and wait for a rescue. She said they warned herthe water gushing from the manholes could cause a strong undercurrent and drag someone under.Serniak and her son were safest if they stayed put in the vehicle.

By the time they got to us water was to our knees, everything in the vehicle was soaked...- ShawnaSerniak

Within 20minutes, several fire and emergency response teams were bobbing towards them in yellow rescue boats.

"By the time they got to us, water was to our knees, everything in the vehicle was soaked, we were soaked, speakers were crackling, there was oil coming out of my vehicle, all in the matter of a few short vehicles," saidSerniak.

'We do whatever we have to do'

The storm caused several power outages across the city. Epcor spokesmanTim le Richesaid it seems like a storm rolls through the areaevery day this summer "around quitting time."

"At the height of the storm today we had seven circuits that were affected," said le Riche. "Most of the service has been restored.

"We've worked our way through another thunderstorm in Edmonton today."

Stranded driver rescued on Whitemud after storm

8 years ago

Duration 0:42

Kent Hauptman thought he would be alright driving through the flooded underpass at Whitemud Drive, but, turns out, he wasn't.

The outages were all across the city, said le Riche. He said Epcor plans for outageswhenever there is a storm.

"Whenever we get high wind, lightning, heavy rain, that's going to cause power outages," said le Riche. "It always does."

"We always have crews ready to go on standby. When something happens, those guys go right away. And if we need more we call more guys in.

"We do whatever we have to do."

You can see some videos of the storm below: