You definitely don't see this every day (thankfully)!

As storms swept through Duluth on Wednesday morning (July 23), a lightning bolt struck a popular Duluth attraction. The direct hit had the public concerned over what damage it may have caused, and staff have responded to those concerns.

The lightning strike hit what appeared to be something on the western portion of the roof of the Great Lakes Aquarium next to Bayfront Festival Park.

The Duluth Harbor Cam's Harbor Plaza/Great Lakes Aquarium camera captured the moment the lightning bolt hit the building, happening at 12:48 pm on July 23, according to the timestamp on the Duluth Harbor Cam video.

Watch the wild moment here:

Taking a direct hit from a lightning strike like that is likely to cause at least some damage.

According to the staff at the Great Lakes Aquarium, people reached out to check on the status of the building, staff, visitors, and the creatures that call the aquarium home. Thankfully, everyone and everything inside was safe, experiencing a loud boom and bright flash, but there were no injuries or any reported interior damage to the aquarium. That said, there was still some damage done.

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The aquarium shared a post on their Facebook page that explained that while the damage was relatively minor considering how bad it could have been, they didn't escape completely unscathed.

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A video camera on the roof of the building took what they said was the " brunt of the hit", getting totally fried and blasted into a few pieces (as you can see in the photo below).

Great Lakes Aquarium on Facebook
Great Lakes Aquarium on Facebook
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In the Facebook post, the aquarium thanked everyone who reached out with their concerns, assuring everyone that aside from a cooked camera, everything is okay - which is great to hear!

While it's a wild story (and video), let's hope they're spared the next time storms roll through.

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Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper

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