Staff report
Lightning traveled through a telephone line during a severe storm and struck a woman Wednesday evening as she talked on the phone in Kannapolis, authorities said.
The woman’s name and condition were unavailable Wednesday night.
A Kannapolis communications dispatcher said the woman was reportedly on a telephone outside the old Humdinger restaurant on North Cannon Boulevard, in the Rowan County portion of the city.
A Rowan communications dispatcher said Rowan County EMS responded to the scene. The woman was taken to NorthEast Medical Center, the dispatcher said.
Police scanner traffic earlier in the evening indicated the woman was conscious and alert and did not have life-threatening injuries when emergency responders arrived on the scene around 7:30 p.m.
Rowan County avoided major damage from severe weather that swept through the area for the third time this week. But the storm left a multitude of incidents in its wake, including downed power lines and trees and houses struck by lightning.
Around 9 p.m., Duke Energy reported 1,136 customers without power in Rowan County and 88 in Cabarrus. By 11 p.m., the number still without power had decreased to 358 in Rowan and 23 in Cabarrus.
On Moose Road, a resident reported that lightning had come in through the electrical system and burned the carpet. On nearby Ebenezer Road, another resident reported a house struck by lightning.
Firefighters responding to Ebenezer Road radioed in to let other responders know that a tree had fallen across China Grove Road, a route to the scene for some of them.
Trees were also reported down on Old Concord Road and Turner Street. Downed power lines were reported on Faith Road and Enochville Road.
A couple of other small fires were reported, but it was unclear if they were related to the storm.
Most of the calls came into communications centers between 6:30 p.m. and around 7:45 p.m.