WATCH: Patients rocked after lightning's direct hit on hospital
A BOLT of lightning struck Warwick Hospital at 12:23pm on Tuesday, damaging a fire panel located in one of the hospital buildings, McCarthy House.
People in the hospital are said to have felt the extent of the lightning strike from inside the building, but no clinical services or day-to-day functions of the hospital were impacted.
It does not appear the hospital lost power during the storm.
Investigations into the extent of the damage are now under way and any subsequent repairs to hospital property will be made.
Local stormchaser Chris McFerran was watching the storm with his brother Mick Loxley from a hill on Bracker Rd when the lightning struck.
Mr Loxley caught it all on video.
"The storm was sitting over the Eight Mile when a huge bolt of lightning dropped out the back and came down and hit the hospital," Mr McFerran said.
"The noise was incredible, I can imagine what it would have felt like in the building."
Stormchasing is an annual tradition the two brothers share, and Mr McFerran said this season hadn't disappointed.
"There have been a lot of precipitous storms this year, which means they have a lot of rain in them," Mr McFerran said.
The Warwick stormchaser captured a lightning bolt hitting the Warwick Hospital back in 2012.
"It's kind of funny, now we have both caught photos of lightning hitting the same place," Mr McFerran said.
