A close encounter of the lightning kind in Upton

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Plenty of Massachusetts residents heard the rumbles and booms today as powerful thunderstorms rolled through the state. An Upton man had a closer – and more perilous – encounter when he was nearly hit by lightning in his yard.

As a storm rolled through town, the man was knocked to the ground at his home on Merriam Way by the lightning bolt, which he described as being very close to him, Upton EMS Director Brian Kemp said.

The man was able to walk into his house and called 911, and he was transferred to Milford Hospital, Kemp said.

The near-miss came a day after a man was killed by a lightning strike while boating in Orleans. The man was killed while in his clam boat on Little Pleasant Bay at about 5:35 a.m., authorities there said.

The National Weather Service warned people today as thunderstorms approached to take cover inside or in cars, to avoid tall isolated objects like trees, and to avoid open spaces such as ballfields or golf courses.