Mary Jakubowski found that out this week.

A tree outside her Maple Avenue home in Dunkirk was struck by lightning as a storm moved through the region in the early morning hours.

“I was laying there and saw the flash through my closed eyes and heard the crack,” Jakubowski said.

“And I thought to myself, ‘Wow, that was a close one.’ Little did I know that it was that close to my house.”

OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano A tree on Maple Avenue in Dunkirk was struck by lightning this week. It’s at least the second time the tree has been struck.

Jakubowski was outside doing yard work that morning when she saw that the tree had been struck, throwing pieces of bark across her roof, garden, other trees and her car. The crack was so forceful that it also knocked pictures off the wall inside her house.

A strip now runs down the middle of the tree.

About 20 years ago, Jakubowski said the same tree was struck by lightning.

“I’m just so lucky it didn’t come through my bedroom window,” she said of this week’s incident. “My ear still hurts when a train goes by, I think it was the pressure of it all.”

According to the National Weather Service, lightning can strike the same place repeatedly, especially if it’s a tall, pointy, isolated object. “The Empire State Building is hit an average of 23 times a year,” the weather service said on its website.