Lightning hit near our friend's house and?

Question

we heard a popping noise in the kitchen (where we were all standing). What was that sound? Was it static electricity? All the electrical appliances in the room looked and worked just fine. It did pop a breaker in the Livingroom.

Answer 1

You probably had an arc (spark) or a power surge that popped the breaker.

Answer 2

It's quite possible it was static electricity. Lightning is nothing more than a enormous amount of static electricity discharging. When near strong thunderstorms in a vehicle, if you listen near your vehicle's antennas you will hear a crackling noise... thats the static discharging against the antenna... get indoors!