Florida couple's toilet explodes after lightning strike

A Florida couple were shocked when the toilet in their ensuite exploded during a lightning strike.

MaryLou Ward of Charlotte County said she was in bed with her husband and three dogs on Sunday, when all of a sudden they were blown out of bed, during the rain and thunder.

"We got out of bed and came over here, and the toilet was laying on the floor," Ms Ward told CNN affiliate WBBH. 

Plumbers said it was a rare incident caused by what was lurking in the pipes.

"Lightning struck this home owner's septic tank, igniting the methane gas (natural gas from sewer) in the sewer pipes and causing an explosion," A-1 Affordable, the plumbing company who attended the job posted on Facebook.

"The toilet exploded in the home owners master bathroom sending porcelain airborne like a missile (the porcelain penetrated into wall)."

They said this was a first and is about as rare as a person being struck by lightning.

"I already sent a picture out to my kids and said, 'Don't do it!' Here's the proof why you shouldn't go near the bathroom in a thunderstorm," the couple's neighbour Charles Allen told WBBH.