A Dallas woman has gone viral on TikTok after sharing footage of her husband’s truck getting struck by lightning while he was driving home from work. The video, posted by content creator Hannah Strauss (@hannahgstrauss), has racked up more than 56,000 views and shows the moment a bolt of lightning hit his vehicle on the freeway, as captured by a Tesla’s dashcam behind him.
Strauss said in the video that the strike hit her husband’s antenna and fried the truck from the inside, totaling it completely. Her husband reportedly had no idea what was happening when it hit. “Apparently, it was super loud,” she said, adding that his hearing was noticeably off for the rest of that day and the following day.
As found by Brobible, Strauss said paramedics arrived at the scene and cleared him, though she said the cops present were visibly surprised he had made it out. At one point, she said, her husband jumped out of the truck because it felt like it was exploding, his antenna reportedly blew apart and scattered across the freeway.
What Strauss said about the lightning strike and the safety warning she shared
Strauss also flagged a safety note in the video. “Apparently, if you jump out of your car after it gets hit by lightning too quickly, the electricity cannot be grounded yet and can kill you instantly when your feet touch the ground,” she said, though she followed that up with “Supposedly anyway.”
At the end of the video, Strauss showed the Tesla dashcam footage of the strike, as well as the totaled truck being towed to their driveway. She also mentioned that the incident was particularly stressful because she is 39 weeks pregnant. “He texted me, ‘I got struck by lightning,’ and I just about lost it,” she said.
In her caption, Strauss wrote, “Literally what are the odds?! Very, very, very grateful he’s alive to tell the tale.” Lightning strikes on vehicles are rare, but surviving a lightning strike against the odds is not unheard of.
The comment section of the video was filled with messages of relief, with several viewers expressing shock. “Omg that’s insane! Will insurance cover this??” one user wrote. Another simply commented, “Omg new fear brooo.”
Multiple commenters also joked that her husband should buy a lottery ticket, as one commenter said, “ Wish you guys the best of luck! Ps try buying a lottery ticket… as someone who was bit by a shark, it hasn’t worked for me yet, but hey, lightening might be a better lottery indicator 😂” One user, Jo, also reminded Strauss that “stress can make you go into labor so pleeeeeease try and relax.” One commenter wrote, “That’s insane so even in a car we aren’t safe too from lightning.” Dashcam footage has also been capturing other unexpected and out-of-control moments on the road recently.
According to The Zebra, a car’s metal body actually does offer protection from lightning, but not because of the rubber tires, as is commonly believed. The metal frame creates a Faraday cage effect, which channels the electrical current around the people inside and directs it through the tires to the ground. This principle reportedly applies equally to electric vehicles, meaning driving a Tesla or any other EV in a thunderstorm carries no greater risk than driving a gas-powered car, as long as it has a hard top.
However, according to the National Weather Service, the vehicle itself can still sustain serious damage. A lightning strike typically hits the antenna or roofline, passes through the outer metal shell, and exits through the tires. Common damage, per the NWS, includes a destroyed antenna, fried electrical systems, shattered rear windows, and blown-out tires. In severe cases, the strike may start a fire that totals the vehicle entirely, which appears to be what happened to Strauss’s husband’s truck.
Published: Jun 9, 2026 03:15 pm