6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning

6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning


MONROE, Ohio – A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a highway was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m., Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday.

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said. The fire department would release a monetary damage estimate Tuesday, he said.

Travelers on Interstate 75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.

The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by former horse trader Lawrence Bishop and his wife. Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation and they spent about $250,000 to finance it.

CASE 1:

4 CG flashes/km2/yr/average

House is 10 X 20 m2 = 1200 m2

Direct strike to house when lightning hits within 10 m

Predicted strike (1200 X4)/1 000 000 =

4.8 X 10 -3 or once ea. 200 years

Therefore - 1 out of 200 house will be struck per year.




CASE 2 :


USA population = 280,000,000

1000 lightning victims/year/average

Odds = 1 : 280,000 of being struck by lightning


___________________________________________________

it was a miracle




seriously though...I saw that huge Jesus statue in the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah...
I could barely stop staring at it, I almost started crying...it was awesome





LINK to more pics of the whole Temple experience

c/thru wrote:

CASE 1:

4 CG flashes/km2/yr/average

House is 10 X 20 m2 = 1200 m2

Direct strike to house when lightning hits within 10 m

Predicted strike (1200 X4)/1 000 000 =

4.8 X 10 -3 or once ea. 200 years

Therefore - 1 out of 200 house will be struck per year.




CASE 2 :


USA population = 280,000,000

1000 lightning victims/year/average

Odds = 1 : 280,000 of being struck by lightning


___________________________________________________

it was a miracle




seriously though...I saw that huge Jesus statue in the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah...
I could barely stop staring at it, I almost started crying...it was awesome





LINK to more pics of the whole Temple experience

Well he managed to get everyones attention