And then there was rain.
The storms on Tuesday and Wednesday marked the beginning of the wet season in Gainesville, and though the rain will help abate dry conditions and wildfires, its effects on local electricity, traffic and safety are already being felt.
Almost two inches of rain fell over the area, and wind gusts reached 47 miles per hour over the two-day period, according to the National Weather Service.
Such conditions always lead to more accidents, said Eugene Morris, acting spokesman for the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.
One man was struck by lightning during Tuesday's storm as he stood under a tree between Lowe's Home Improvement store and Regal Gainesville Cinema 14 near Archer Road.
Austin Lowe, 20, had burns on the lower half of his body, and the nearby tree was on fire when police arrived, said Gainesville Police spokeswoman Summer Hallett. He was taken to Shands at UF for treatment.
Lowe was in serious condition around 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to Kim Jamerson, the media relations coordinator at Shands.
Besides the increased risk of injury from lightning, minor car accidents are also more common during thunderstorms.
"Drivers should slow down a bit," Morris said. "When roads get this way, it tends to increase our business."
The strong winds and rain led to a power outage for 2,000 Gainesville Regional Utilities customers Tuesday when a pine tree fell on a power line on the 37th block of Northwest 39th Avenue.
There were also scattered outages throughout Wednesday, and about 300 customers lost power for more than an hour.
Ludie Bond, a wildfire mitigation specialist at the Florida Division of Forestry, said she could not remember the last time this year that Gainesville had so much consistent rain.
Thunderstorms are expected to continue into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
