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A woman whose house in the Republic of Ireland caught fire after a lightning strike has said it sounded like a bomb going off.

Debbie Nesbitt and her children were in the downstairs of their home in Newtowncunningham, County Donegal, when the lightning struck on Monday.

"I ran outside to see what was happening, the roof was already in flames," Debbie told ������̳ News NI.

Her home was one of four properties hit by lightning during a thunderstorm.

Debbie's three children, aged nine, 13 and 15, were off school on Monday because of the earlier impact of Storm Isha.

It had been a normal afternoon, Debbie said, and they had been playing board games.

"I just heard this almighty noise that I can only describe as a bomb hitting my roof of the house," she said.

"I started seeing slates and stuff fall from the house.

"There was smoke coming out of the roof, the fire alarms were going off - I thought we must have been hit by lightning."

She added: "It was just horrendous watching my house burn down, the five of us don't know what is going to happen from here on in."

Her husband Keith said the couple has spent 25 years building their dream home.

The lightning, he said, has caused substantial damage.

An insurance assessment and a major structural examination will be carried out on the family's home.