We've had both -- lighting and power line break in past 3 years. O joy. After the lightning a whole house surge protector was installed in the fuse box. I still lost 9 appliances when the power line broke. The lightning strike only zapped the phones and one outlet though it dug itself a 20 foot trench outside and scorched a wall where it hit the house. Also fried the flatscreen. We had insurance coverage for both. They paid to repair first, or replace if not possible. They priced everything and gave us an allowance. If the ovens have been repaired but still do not work, I'd suggest contacting the insurance company. None of the appliances with electronic components seem to be made to withstand this kind of thing. When there are power outages there are repairs my appliance guys have said. The surge protector may or may not have helped when the power line burst. There was no real pattern. The microwave was blown out but the oven over it (miele) was not. The refrigerator was blown out but the dw and cooktop and hood were fine. We lost all our phones and the air tub motor and more. The only explanation I get is that electricity in these situations is very unpredictable. Other suggestion is to read your policy very carefully before you deal with them -- presentation can make a big difference, as can photo documentation.

Thank you for all the good wishes! He'll be here for another week or so--we'll have to make the most of it! Well, we've been without internet again--it's been intermittent at best, and really not worth the trouble. I think I've mentioned that I've been using internet for only a little over a year, and I'm still timid when it comes to technical issues. We've had three (3!) telephone company repairmen here six times in various combinations, sometimes alone, sometimes two together. Of course, they are here during the day, when my husband is at work, so imagine these poor guys asking me questions, and instructing me to check the modem--a week ago I had no idea where the modem was, let alone that it had lights that tell what it's doing. So, all these guys couldn't figure out the 'intermittent' problems. It seemed to be working when they were here, and all the 'physical' components seemed to be in order, but we would have service for only a short time, then it would quit. We'd re-boot the modem for a few minutes (a couple of hours, if we were lucky) of service, then it was off again. The phone co sent a new modem which didn't solve the problem, and we even unplugged the new remote phone, thinking that it might be the cause. We've had our son here for two weeks, my BIL and his boys haven been around a lot, my younger DD has been here a couple of times, and all their various friends have been coming and going, too, at all hours of the day and night. Except for yesterday: DH, BIL and all the boys went whitewater rafting, DD went to Cleveland with a friend, and I was here on my own (except for 2 yr old grandson) for most of the day. The phone guys checked lines in the early afternoon, and gave me the 'everything's working now' line, so I settled in to try and catch up on email and gardenweb :) My son-in-law called to say that he was coming to pick up grandson later in the evening, and when I returned to the computer, the internet was out. I re-booted the modem, and had no problems for an hour or so, then DH called to say that everyone survived the rafting trip, and they were on the way home. When I returned to the computer, the internet was out again. I re-booted, then shortly my daughter inadvertently slammed the back door, which is beside the telephone. The internet immediately went out AGAIN. And something clicked in my brain--we've had a lot of traffic in and out of that door, and more people have been here using the phone--maybe there was a connection?!! I told DH my theory, he picked up a new phone this AM, ran home to install it, found a FRIED WIRE, held down by a LOOSE SCREW, evidently damage from the LIGHTNING STRIKE. He replaced the wire, installed the new phone, and here I am typing to you all, with no problems so far. We've tried the phone, answered phone calls, slammed the door, plugged in the remote phone, no problems. Evidently whenever we answered the phone, or closed the door hard enough to 'disconnect' the line, we were losing internet service. So why didn't THREE phone guys and my computer-savvy DH think to check the phone that I told them 'popped' when the lightning hit?!! LOL, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?!! Sorry for the long, rambling post, but can it be that simple?!!

Thanks for the replys. The spark I got when re-setting the original GFCI breaker appears to have come from within the breaker by the white test button...it left a burn mark. The spark was substantial. I purchased a replacement GFCI thinking the original had been damaged by the lightning strike. I installed it identically to the original, white pig tail to the neatral bus bar and the two load wires to the load (outside) conection on the GFCI breaker. When pushed to the on position it operated the pool pump. When I pressed the test button I got a spark like i did with the first one. At that point the breaker would operated the pump but would not trip when the test button was pressed. I also observed the same burn mark near the white test button. At this point I removed the GfCI breaker and in a process of trial and error found that when the 110 volt convenience outlet that runs in the same conduit is on I can detect measurable voltage on my test meter when I put the leads on the pump wire and the neatral bar. In my thinking there is no reason for their to be measurable currrent coming fromthese wires. The issue does not exist in the reverse. With the pump circuit on there is no detectable voltage in the convenience outlet circuit. Originally i thought there must be short in the wiring somewhere in the conduit. I replaced all of it and inspected the wiring i removed and could find no obvious damage. when i had it all re-wired I detected the same issue I had before replacing the wiring. Obviously i am missing something. For the life of me I can not see any reason that I would be able to detect voltage from the pump wire when the other cuircuit is energized. At this point I think I am misinterpeting the data.for the time being I pulled the G.F.C.I. breaker to get the pump running I know everthing was operating correctly before the lightning storm. Even if the voltage is "stray" from the long companion run in the conduit would that cause the G.F.C.I. to burn out? thansk again for any advice.

The pictures are beautiful. I love lightning and thunder (as long as there's no damage). And you are right about the patterns of nature. Just like someone planned it that way !