Lightning injuries

After a storm, farmers occasionally observe circular areas in tobacco fields that suddenly wilt. Upon a close examination of the leaves, one may note that they are distorted in different degrees, their midribs and veins are often brown and necrotic, and interveinal tissues tend to become necrotic. That kind of damage is caused by lightning.
 
The stem is also injured and it may have superficial brown lesions. The pith remains white when it subsists inside the stem (figure 1). Frequently it shrinks and takes the appearance of several stacked discs (pith in "pile of plates"), a symptom often associated with damage caused by Phytophthora nicotianae (figure 2). In some cases, the pith almost disappears. 
 
Plants in the centre of the affected area are usually more damaged than plants on the periphery, some of them may completely dry up.