William Graham and his cousin Riley Graham inspect the lightning damage to a 200-year-old white oak tree. The future of the tree doesn’t look promising.

By RAY WYCHE
Staff Writer

Two of nature’s mightiest creations – lightning and a 200-year old oak tree – clashed recently north of Lake Waccamaw and thus far, the oak has come out ahead.

The big white oak in William Graham’s yard in the St. James community was struck about one month ago.

To date, most of the leaves on the big tree remain green, but forestry experts say its chances of surviving intact are slim.

The lightning strike slashed the bark to the ground along different paths on the trunk, which measures 16 1/2 feet in circumference, and left brown streaks where it stripped the bark from the upper branches of the tree.

The lightning evidently “forked” as it hit the oak as the damage is visible on several limbs and at least two places on the stout trunk.
The leaves on the
topmost branches of the oak have turned brown, an indication that the lightning killed some of the smaller limbs.

District 8 Forester Shane Hardee said in similar lightning strikes, parts of the tree are killed even though some of the oak may survive.

Graham says that family traditions hold that the tree was set out by an ancestor probably 200 years ago in the yard of a home no longer existing at the site.

No other large trees are nearby and the crown – spread of the branches – of the big oak has grown unhindered.

A cousin, 67-year old Riley Graham, recalls cropping tobacco years ago in a field beside the big oak, and how welcomed its shade was to the workers.

William Graham said he was in his nearby home when the lightning struck. There was a loud noise, he says.
“I saw a light flashing. It lit it up,” he says.

It’s obvious that some powerful force has hit the equally powerful tree, but the white oak still stands, its green leaves continuing to offer shade.