Lighting struck the Washington State ferry Puyallup while it was at the Edmonds ferry terminal Saturday afternoon and also knocked out some fluorescent tubes in the terminal’s overhead walkway, a ferry spokesperson said. There were no injuries.
The lightning strike, which occured around 1:30 p.m., impacted the ferry’s electronic navigation system, spokeswoman Diane Rhodes said. Due to an unreliable compass, the ferry was taken out of service for repairs, canceling three evening sailings between Edmonds and Kington. The ferry Walla Walla was put into service for the final two night sailings, she said.
We were sitting in our car at the dive park when this happened. It was quite a shock, no pun intended.
I’ve been a Washingtonian since 1963 and this is the first I have ever heard of lightning striking one of our ferries.