LITCHFIELD, Illinois — A strong summer storm blew through Litchfield, Illinois quickly, packing a powerful punch.
"It was extremely scary due to the proximity," said Chris Baugher, who has lived in Litchfield for more than 20 years.
"My boyfriend actually had to go out and shut the windows on his truck and I was so scared because the wind picked up so fast," said resident, Madison Miller.
Initially, residents woke up to sweltering, 90-degree-plus temperatures and high humidity.
However, by 1 p.m. Thursday mother nature unleashed wild winds, heavy rains, and lots of lightning on the community of 6,600 people.
"I can recall at the height of it, it was very windy," said Miller.
"Lightning was on top of us. Thunder was extremely loud," Baugher said.
Baugher and his son were in their garage when lightning struck a huge tree outside their home on West Columbia Street, knocked down power lines, and left them and their neighbors in the dark.
"The sparks came in so, it was like a Fourth of July celebration," said Baugher.
A few blocks down on North Van Buren Street, Miller held onto her 6-month-old baby, Oliver when they too lost power.
"I was trying to make a bottle for him when the power flickers for about 30 seconds. It was on and off and the whole house shut down," said Miller.
The good news is it appears nobody was hurt and residents' homes were not damaged during the storm.
But, the storm also uprooted a huge maple tree on West Columbia Street.
Hours after the summer storm, sounds of Ameren crews working on those fallen power lines, a partly sunny sky, and much cooler temperatures were indeed a welcomed relief to everyone in Litchfield.
"We're just going to try to make it work until they can get around to us," said Miller.
"That storm was definitely one of the worst and quick-hitting," said Baugher.
As of Thursday night, about 200 customers in Montgomery County are still in the dark.
An Ameren spokesman said crews will work throughout Thursday night to restore the outages.