BEND, Ore. -- As a second day of thunderstorms rumbled through Central Oregon Tuesday afternoon, lightning struck more than just open land.

Two of the 7,500 lightning strikes caused damage to two homes south of Bend. One suffered minimal damage, but the other is a total loss.

At 4:20 p.m., Kellen Montgomery came home to a small hole burned through the roof of his house on Amethyst Street.

"There's dust everywhere, and it's -- you know, you just don't expect that kind of thing," said Montgomery. "My mom walked outside and she kind of started freaking out, because you don't expect to get hit by lightning."

The Montgomery family was not home at the time, and the lightning bolt that hit a small portion of their roof did not start a fire.

It was a much different story for another family just three miles away, on Wecoma Court. A lightning bolt blasted a tree near the back of the home of Deak Preble and his wife, both of whom were inside when it happened.

"I was looking out the door, and it did it right in front of me, about four feet away," Preble said. "A big flash, and then a flame on the deck, and then smoke."

"The sound was so loud," said Boo Hage, Preble's neighbor, who lives three houses away. "So we came out and saw the smoke and sirens and all."

"It was pretty scary," said Rodney Orth, another neighbor. "My first reaction was to come out and make sure everybody was all right."

Preble and his wife safely got out of the house before flames engulfed their attic.

Preble said there is an electrical line that runs underneath the deck for the irrigation system timer, and the lightning charge apparently traveled from the lightning-struck tree to the line.

"Apparently it went up that line and blew up the timer and got into the electrical system in the house," he said.

Fire crews responded quickly to put out the flames, but the damage spread just as fast.

The house, valued at $250,000, was a total loss, along with $75,000 worth of contents, about half the total. Firefighters were able to salvage most of the valuables inside the home.

"We're just pleased the authorities were able to get here fairly quickly," said Preble. "We'll be staying somewhere else for a period of time and then we'll move back in and make the best of it."

The house is a total loss, but Preble said he's glad he and his wife are safe.

Asked how he felt, Preble paused, smiled a bit and said: "Mad at Mother Nature."