Summer storms also brought another hazard, lightning. Some of the damage that may result from this condition is found in the following stories
September 7, 1916:
George Posey, who was living in the eastern part of the county, was struck by a bolt of lightning on his farm. He had noticed a threatening cloud but continued to work. A bolt struck a wire fence and leaped across to where he was standing. He was knocked to the ground senseless. The horses became frightened and started to run, several hoofs bruising his body as the horses ran over him. Aside from an unnatural feeling in the head for a time, there was no ill affect from the experience.
July 4, 1935:
Lightning struck the Catholic Church in Bordulac. Several boards knocked off and loosened some of the plaster.
June 8, 1943:
Carpenters working on a new barn on the Isak Nystad farm were frightened when the barn was stuck by lightning. The bolt did considerable damage to the barn, splintering some of the rafters and tearing away some of the boards.
Mr. John Lindstrom was raking his hay crop one Sunday morning. He quit as noon leaving the rake in the field. A storm came up. Lightning struck the haystack and set it afire. The hay burned to the ground, together with his stacking machine beside it.
After that Mr. Lindstrom thought twice about working on Sunday!
August 8, 1973:
Lightning struck a barn on the Raymond Klein farm in Longview Township. The barn burned to the ground.
June 27, 1979:
Lightning stripped a tree of its bark in the yard of Clifford Silkey.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 75