A lightning strike in Te Puke has killed a dog and split a huge tree, sending a branch through a young girl's window.
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A bad storm has drenched the Bay of Plenty region in the past 24 hours, sending the Rotorua suburb of Ngongotaha into a state of emergency.
Matt and Nicole Petuha were forced to think quickly as they pulled their nine-year-old daughter from bed moments before a tree branch smashed through her window, they told NZME.
As they went outside their Te Puke home to inspect the damage from the fallen redwood tree, the family found their dog dead after it was electrocuted by a lightning strike.
They also discovered the tree had split down the middle and fallen on either side of their house.
They now have a major clean-up ahead of them after the branch that smashed through their daughter's window sent shattered glass across her bedroom.
Newshub.
