Firefighters braved a fierce electrical storm to help repair a roof which was struck by lightning.
A rescue pump and a rescue tender from Grays were called to Cherwell Grove, South Ockendon, on Saturday night when a "massive bolt" struck two adjoining houses.
Extensive damage was caused to roof tiles and to chimney stacks - which left the two homes vulnerable to the elements.
Firefighters then spent a hair-raising hour being lashed by rain while they fixed four large salvage sheets over the whole area.
Before that, they had to remove all the damaged bricks and tiles and place them safely on the ground Grays sub officer Bob Wright said: "They say that lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, but whilst we were working up on that roof with the storm raging above us, we felt extremely vulnerable."
There were also flooding problems in parts of Chafford Hundred.
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