Alex Sanz/Eyewitness News
Central Indiana, July 22 - Thursday night across the central part of the state it was a storm the likes we've seen few times this year.
North of Indianapolis it was the heavy rain and lightning that cut short Tom Petty's much-anticipated performance at Verizon Wireless Music Center. Thousands of fans there battled the rain.
Grant McCardle says that during the show "The lightning was like a light show for the whole concert. It was excellent. The rain started pouring right as it started getting real good."
Elsewhere driving was next to impossible. East of Indianapolis the heavy rain turned roads into ponds, the rain made it difficult to see.
To the south the downed limbs of trees, and in some cases entire trees, blocked roads.
Across the area the lightning made for a tough night. Daylight showed why.
In the city of Carmel alone there were reports of at least 30 lightning strikes.
After one strike near North Gray Road and East 146th Street a two-story home went up in flames. It took the efforts of firefighters from three departments to contain the damage.
By the time the sun came up the extent of the blaze was clear. Nobody home was hurt.
Jim Carroll expected "to see maybe a part of the roof burned out, but you know, it looks to me like this is a total loss."
For so many it was quite a night.
At the height of this storm close to 50,000 Central Indiana power customers were in the dark. As of ten o'clock Friday morning Cinergy reported a little more than 3,400 customers without power. Indianapolis Power and Light said some 7,500 of their customers were still in the dark.
The National Weather Service is also looking into unconfirmed reports of tornadoes during the storms.
