RICHMOND, Texas – A Richmond family is left picking up the pieces after lightning struck their apartment unit, erupted into a fire and destroyed everything on Sunday.
This apartment complex is located on FM 1093 Road near Gaston Road.
“It was just like, wow, it’s raining pretty hard,” said Godtrace Ngoh. “We didn’t expect it to be a fire.”
Ngoh said it happened around 2 p.m. Sunday.
Godtrace, Tracewill and sister Willtrace Ngoh were at home during the lightning strike. Their mother Wartrace Nbaku was at work.
“I have a lot of memories,” said Nbaku. “I’m a record-keeping person. I can’t retrieve any of those documents, pictures, all of that."
Nbaku said she told her children to grab essential items like passports and evacuate. But there are still some essential items the Ngoh family said they wish they had taken with them.
“I wish I had grabbed my wallet,” said Godtrace. “It had my ID and everything inside.”
Fulshear Simonton Fire Department said the fire destroyed four top level units and there was water damage on the first and second floors.
A spokesperson for the department also said lightning strikes have been more prevalent in the last five years and their firefighters responded to two other lightning strikes to houses on the same day.
Mbaku said she has filed a claim through her insurance and is figuring out next steps, but she is thankful no one was hurt.
“Let them not see this situation as the worst situation that can happen, but they should learn from it," said Mbaku.
Currently, Mbaku said the family is staying at a friend’s house and she is thankful for the community for helping out.
“Seven Lakes and their coaches, I don’t know how they did it,” said Mbaku. “I didn’t expect any contribution. I just want to thank all of them.”
If you’d like to help the family, you can click here.
KPRC 2 reached out to Sunridge Management, the apartment management company to see if any relief is being provided to impacted families. We are waiting to hear back.
