Mike Akers was visiting his parents in Queens, NY, when a freak storm swept through the area on Monday night, bringing thunder, lightning and baseball-sized hail.

In this amateur video, which aired on ‘Today,’ Akers filmed from the relative safety of his parents’ porch when, suddenly, lightning struck in the front yard and smashed a tree to pieces.

The resulting blast of sound reportedly blew Akers’ hair back. “Holy s***!” he exclaims in the clip below. “I felt the shockwave. That was close.”

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