Storms moved through Northeast Ohio last week, and lightning is believed to have caused a house fire at a Twinsburg home— the second home struck in the area in six months.
Jo Jo Zhou and Miroslav Goubar were devastated when they learned their home was hit by lightning, which caused a fire to destroy the house inside and out.
They began rushing home to their 13-month-old daughter and their mothers, who were inside the home during the fire.
“We were working that day, and we got a phone call from his mom saying that there's a fire,” said Zhou. “They didn't know what to do, and the neighbors started to get them out of the house with the baby."
They were thankful their family was not hurt but shocked to see the damage done to their home.
“I was like, 'Oh my goodness,' and I thought that maybe most of a house was still fine, but that was far from the truth,” said Zhou.
Once Twinsburg fire officials contained the fire, the couple was allowed inside and found their kitchen severely damaged, part of their floors sinking and their basement destroyed.
“I came to United States 10 years ago with almost nothing, and this is our first house that we built for us with our parents help,” said Zhou.
And they are not willing to leave behind one of their greatest accomplishments.
“We found a good location and it would be too hard to abandon, so we want to rebuild it,” said Goubar.
Déjà vu
This is the second home in the community that was struck by lightning in the last six months, which has left neighbors concerned for their safety.
“It’s like Déjà vu,” said neighbor Nipun Lakhotia.
Lakhotia was home with his wife and daughter when lightning struck his roof in July 2024, causing a fire to start in the attic and eventually destroying his entire house.
“We were told it's a coincidence, and it does not happen often but now it strikes two homes in the same neighborhood across the street from each other months apart. There must be something we can do to prevent this,” said Lakhotia.
Lakhotia’s home is expected to be completed in a few months, and the number one priority for the community is getting lightning protection to prevent this incident from devastating a third family.
“We're just extensively investigating different solutions or multiple lightning protection options, so we're trying to figure out what works best for everybody in the neighborhood and finding one contractor to do it all at once,” said neighbor Mike Daugherty.
Jo Jo and Miroslav have been moving from one Airbnb to another, waiting to get a permanent solution from their insurance company, but have been receiving much-needed support from the community after losing everything.
“People have sent us diapers and clothes for our baby and Chinese churches sent us food. Our friends sent us clothes for the grandmas so they can have some clothes for these next several days. And we are so grateful for everyone,” said Zhou.
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