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When meteorologists warn you to take cover during a violent thunderstorm, they're not exaggerating.

WATCH: Lightning demolishes telephone pole


Daniel Martins
Digital Reporter

Tuesday, July 26, 2016, 12:15 PM - When meteorologists warn you to take cover during a violent thunderstorm, they're not exaggerating.

A bolt of lightning can contain up to a billion volts of electricity (according to National Geographic), and if it hits the right target, the result can be total obliteration, like in the video above.

We encourage you to watch it a few more times to just take in the awesome power of that bolt, completely wrecking that roadside pole (not to mention the unbelievable luck of catching it on camera). 

The destruction was captured on Sunday by Anja Englert, who was driving in Chicago, Illinois, while the area was under a severe thunderstorm warning, according to the Washington Post. She was uninjured.

RELATED: Men are five times more likely to be killed by lightning than women

Severe thunderstorms get a fair bit of attention for their risk of heavy downpours, damaging winds and potential for tornadoes, but even run-of-the-mill thunderstorms can produce lighting, and if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can absolutely be deadly.

Environment Canada says lightning flashes across our country's skies more than two million times a year. In the summer, it can be as frequent as thrice a second.

And it can kill. An average of 10 people are killed annually, and 164 injured, and Environment Canada says some 4,000 wildfires a year are started by lightning.

SOURCES:  Washington Post | National Geographic | Environment Canada

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