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I’ve seen quite a few lightning storms in my day, but I have never seen anything quite like this. It turns out that Rio... Christ The Redeemer Struck By Lightning

I’ve seen quite a few lightning storms in my day, but I have never seen anything quite like this. It turns out that Rio de Janeiro has been getting hit pretty hard by lightning storms as of late. Recently, they had a lightning storm with some pretty shocking (I couldn’t resist) results. The area surrounding Rio de Janeiro got hit with over 40,000 flashes of lightning. Considering this particular storm only lasted around 3 hours, that’s a whole lot of lighting going on. If that was the end of the story, the lightning facts alone would be impressive enough, but it just so happens that Rio de Janeiro’s favorite resident was damaged as a result of all of the lightning. Christ the Redeemer, a 125 foot tall statue of Jesus Christ that sits atop the Corcovado Mountain, was the unfortunate recipient of a bolt of lightning that blew off a few of the fingers of Christ.

Christ The Redeemer Struck By Lightning

Christ the Redeemer has long been a landmark of Rio de Janeiro as construction first began on the monument in 1922, and it is one of the most recognizable statues in the world.

I realize that lightning did indeed strike the Christ the Redeemer statue, but if you look closely at the picture above, it appears as if Jesus Himself is commanding the lightning from His right hand. Either way, it is a powerful image of Mother Nature at work. As noted above, this particular lightning strike did result in the loss of a few of Christ’s fingers, and it is unknown how long it will take them to be repaired.

According to Gizmodo, the Christ the Redeemer statue gets hit by lightning anywhere from 3 to 5 times every year, though it appears that the statue isn’t usually damaged this badly.

Below is another look at the fascinating storm.

Christ The Redeemer Struck By Lightning

[Images via NYDailyNews]

SOURCE: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/lightning-struck-rios-jesus-christ-statue-and-broke-of-1503947641