DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — Neighborhoods across Jacksonville are cleaning up and drying out after two huge storms combined right over the heart of Duval County.
A lightning strike even started a fire on the sand dunes in Neptune Beach, just one sign of the storms that generated thousands of lightning strikes and dumped inches of rain on Jacksonville on Tuesday night.
Exclusive cellphone video obtained by Action News shows the moment lightning hit the dunes behind the Lemon Bar in Neptune Beach.
Folks are surprised as the lightning rocks the bar, starting a small fire a few yards from them. Luckily, heavy rain put out the flames quickly.
Lighting dancing across the sky rocked Duval County from the beaches inland.
A lightning bolt hit a house in Atlantic Beach, starting a small fire in the insulation. A tarp covers the spot where it hit and everyone inside the home is OK.
Duval County Emergency Management reported several lightning strikes and lots of downed trees during the storm.
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The afternoon heavy rains nailed the Action News studios on Southside. On the Hart Bridge, the rain was so heavy you couldn’t see downtown.
And in Arlington off the corner of Redberry and Cesery, witnesses say high winds blew a massive tree branch down on top of a motorcyclist.
“The whole limb came out of the tree and literally engulfed him,” said Edward Johnson, who said he saw the whole thing happen from his driver seat.
“We basically tried to keep him calm, keep him breathing,” Johnson said.
A tow truck hauled off the Honda after it slid about 150 feet from the tree into a fence.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the rider has road rash but is going to be OK.
“He had an angel on that bike with him. That tree should of killed him,” Johnson said.
In Jacksonville Beach, flash flooding caused a major problem for the afternoon rush.
Fires, flash floods and flipped motorcycles -- all evidence of Tuesday’s powerful storm.
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