Saturday’s early morning storm wreaked havoc for a Suffolk County homeowner.

A Selden woman lost almost everything after a lightning strike caused a fire that destroyed her home.

Lightning struck the home on Parkwood Lane in Selden around 4 a.m., causing it to go up in flames.

Bernadette Serrano, the homeowner, had just gotten up to go to the restroom downstairs when the lightning struck the roof right above her second-floor bedroom.

She says the whole house shook.

Serrano says she was on her way back upstairs when she smelled the smoke.

Bernadette says she couldn’t get through to 911, so she got into her car and began honking the horn to alert her neighbors.

When firefighters arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames. 

It took 45 minutes for 60 firefighters to knock the flames out in the rain.

“We had some heavy storms rolling in. The thunder, lightning, the wind, and heavy rain may seem silly, the heavy rain in the fire but it really makes it difficult for the members you know the grounds wet,” says Selden Fire Chief William Cotty,

Serrano had just retired and she is now trying to plan on where she is going to live and what she can salvage from the fire. 

The home is a total loss but Serrano says she is thankful no one was hurt, including her two cats which escaped the fire unharmed.