Lightning strike sends NC teacher filming thunderstorm running for cover

LILLINGTON, NC -- A North Carolina science teacher had a near miss with a bolt of lightning that sent him running for cover.

Shawn Hicks said he stepped outside to film the storm, which prompted the National Weather Service to issue a severe thunderstorm warning, to show his seventh-grade students.

"Y'all got something bad coming!" he can be heard saying immediately before a crash of thunder and several lightning strikes. "Maybe I should go inside," he said aloud as the wind picked up.

Two minutes later, the storm delivered another crash of thunder and a frighteningly close lightning strike.

"Never mind!" Hicks yelled as he immediately ran inside, visibly shaken but apparently uninjured.

Elsewhere in the region, the storm toppled trees and took out power lines, leaving residents in the dark.