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Zap! Unlucky wind turbine hit by storm, finished off by lightning 

Credit:  Mike Kilen | Des Moines Register | Sept. 3, 2018 | www.desmoinesregister.com ~~

A wind turbine four miles south of Zearing is on fire after lightning struck it Sunday.

Don Henderson drives around taking photographs of Iowa, but this was a first, what he called “a very unlucky windmill” smoldering in the distance on Sunday.

He said a wind turbine four miles south of Zearing off U.S. Highway 65 was damaged by the tornadoes that ripped through Iowa earlier this summer, leaving one blade dangling. Then, lightning struck it during the storms this weekend.

He was there Sunday to capture the images of the smoking turbine, and thousands of people reacted to his images on Facebook.

After the turbine burned, he said, a second blade fell off later.

Henderson, of Zearing, uses his photography hobby to share his images on his My Eye on Iowa Facebook page, usually driving around with his window rolled down to capture them.

He’s right in the middle of two large wind farms to the north and south in Story County.

Tall wind turbines are lightning magnets, according to Scientific American, causing blades to explode and generator and control system damages.

“A lot of people commented on the photos, wondering how it happened,” Henderson said. “Of course, there were people who said, ‘Burn baby burn.'”

The dangling blade of a wind turbine near Zearing after a summer tornado was later struck by lightning, according to photographer Don Henderson. (Photo: Don Henderson)

A close-up shot of a wind turbine struck by lighting over Labor Day weekend. Later, a second blade fell off, according to photographer Don Henderson of Zearing.

Source:  Mike Kilen | Des Moines Register | Sept. 3, 2018 | www.desmoinesregister.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

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