Northport, Long Island 

A Long Island man is incredibly fortunate to be alive after being struck by lightning outside his Northport home on Sunday night. Jonathan Borriello, 29, of Ocean Drive, was hurled approximately 20 feet through the air by the powerful bolt.

Borriello had stepped out around 10:48 p.m. to remove a flag during severe thunderstorms. Despite joking that he wouldn't be struck by lightning after putting down a metal flagpole he was holding, a bolt blasted a tree just 11 feet away, arcing into his left shoulder and arm. "It threw me against my house and totally made me incapable of doing anything. I couldn't move, I couldn't hear, I couldn't see anything," Borriello recounted. He described the sensation as "the biggest flash of white" followed by "getting hit by a truck".

Miraculously, Borriello did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, though he sustained burns to his hands and feet. He was treated at Huntington Hospital. Northport Chief of Police Bill Ricca remarked on the incredible odds, suggesting Borriello "should play the lotto". Singed tree shards remained on his property.