AREA. ALL RIGHT, CASSIE, THANK YOU. WELL, WE DEAL WITH A STORM THREAT ON THE SOUTH SHORE. TODAY, CREWS ON THE NORTH SHORE STILL PICKING UP THE PIECES AFTER STORMS ROLLED THROUGH LAST NIGHT. AND SPEAKING OF THOSE POTENTIAL LIGHTNING STRIKES, PEOPLE IN HAMMOND BELIEVE THAT LIGHTNING CAUSED A FIRE AT ONE HOME IN HAMMOND. AND THAT’S WHERE WE FIND OUR WDSU NORTH SHORE BUREAU REPORTER SHAWANDA JONES, WITH A LOOK AT THAT DAMAGE. YES, BECAUSE THE DAMAGE WAS SO EXTENSIVE HERE ON NEWMAN ROAD. THE FIRE CHIEF CAN’T SAY FOR SURE WHAT STARTED THE FIRE, BUT I DID GET A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT FROM A NEIGHBOR WHO SAYS SHE WAS AT HOME WHEN THE FLAMES SPARKED. IF I COULD, LIKE, DESCRIBE, IT WAS LIKE, BOOM. LIKE ALEXIA RICHARDSON LIVES YARDS AWAY FROM WHERE A MOBILE HOME CAUGHT FIRE DURING THURSDAY’S SEVERE STORMS. SHE SAYS SHE PLANNED TO WAIT OUT THE STORM UNTIL A LOUD NOISE FORCED HER TO LOOK OUTSIDE. WE WERE LITERALLY SITTING IN THE LIVING ROOM AND WE HEARD THE BOOM AND WE KIND OF FIGURED IT WAS A TRANSFORMER AT FIRST, BUT THE LIGHTS DIDN’T GO OFF, SO THAT’S WHY WE WERE KIND OF CONFUSED AS TO WHAT IT COULD BE. AND SO WE CAME OUTSIDE AND WE’RE STANDING THERE AND SAW THE ENTIRE ABANDONED TRAILER THAT’S OVER THERE. IT WAS JUST ENGULFED IN FLAMES, ALONG WITH A LOT OF TREES. DANIEL FOWLKES HAS BEEN THE HAMMOND FIRE CHIEF FOR FIVE YEARS AND HAS SERVED WITH THE DEPARTMENT FOR 20. HE SAYS NORMALLY, FIRES STARTED BY LIGHTNING ARE MINOR. MOST OF THE TIME WE’LL DO. WE WILL SEE A LIGHTNING STRIKE HERE. THERE A LOT OF TIMES WE’LL GO OUT AND JUST DO AN INVESTIGATION. USUALLY THEY’RE VERY, VERY MINOR FIRES. IF THERE IS ANY AT ALL, JUST TO DO THE HEAT AND THE CONDUCTION, WE USUALLY TAKE CARE OF THEM FAIRLY QUICKLY WITH NOT A LOT OF DAMAGE. THIS HOME IS A COMPLETE LOSS. FOLKS SAY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IS FIND SHELTER DURING SEVERE WEATHER. GET TO YOUR HOME, GET TO YOUR YOUR CARPORT, GET INSIDE AND STAY THERE. IF YOU’RE AT WORK, STAY INSIDE. IF YOU’RE OUT WORKING, YOU KNOW IN A VEHICLE IS A LOT SAFER THAN THAN OUTSIDE. SO GET SOMEWHERE WHERE YOU’RE OUT OF THE WEATHER AND, YOU KNOW, NOT JUST STANDING IN IT AND YOU KNOW, GOING TO GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING OR GET HIT, HIT BY SOMETHING THAT THE WIND IS BLOWING AROUND. NOW, I DO WANT TO MENTION THAT WHEN WE ARRIVED ON SCENE EARLIER TODAY, CREWS WERE HERE REPLACING A TRANSFORMER IN THE SAME YARD THAT THE MOBILE HOME CAUGHT ON FIRE IN. SO AGAIN, THE CHIEF CANNOT SAY WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS A BLOWN TRANSFORMER OR A LIGHTNING STRIKE OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAUSED THE FIRE. REPORTING LIVE I