Next time there is a thunderstorm in your area you might want to reconsider going to the bathroom. A Florida woman says she was relaxing in bed with her husband on Sunday morning when a loud explosion rocked their house. A bolt of lightning struck their septic tank, causing their toilet to shatter into hundreds of pieces.
"We smelled smoke, and I looked outside." Marylou Ward told WINK. "It was the smoke from the septic tank that was coming."
The couple jumped out of bed and realized the blast had obliterated their toilet.
"We come in here, and the toilet was laying on the floor," Ward said. "There's all pieces everywhere. Pieces everywhere."
Luckily, neither Ward nor her husband was on the toilet when the bolt of lightning hit.
"I'm just glad none of us were on the toilet," Ward said. "That's the main thing."
Ward's plumber explained that the bolt of lightning ignited the methane gas that had built up inside the septic tank, causing a chain reaction that tore up their yard and destroyed their plumbing. The explosion shattered their bedroom window and sent their yard decorations flying into the street.
“It just did all of that damage and exploded things into the road and so on in half a second,” said Charles Allen, who lives next door.
Ward says she will avoid using the bathroom during storms and warned her kids they should do the same.
"I already sent a picture out to my kids and said, 'don't do it! Here's the proof of why you shouldn't go near the bathrooms in a thunderstorm.'"