ORLANDO, Fla. -- Homeowners and motorists were assessing the damage done by a destructive round of severe thunderstorms that moved through Central Florida late Thursday.

Several streets flooded in Orlando. People living along 19th Street in the Parramore neighborhood said every time there are heavy rains, a nearby retention pond overflows, the sewers back up, and the street floods.

The water was too much for one home. Melonie Nance said this was the third time her living room flooded in the last couple of years. She blamed the city.

"They keep saying they have meetings for this, meetings for that, you know, cleaning up crime," said Nance. "But look at what they are putting people through!"

Throughout Orlando, motorists repeatedly rescued water-logged cars that failed to ford high waters. Kaley Street and Lucerne Circle near Orange Avenue, and Dunwoodie Avenue were swamped. On Dunwoodie, some residents at the Tymberscan on the Lake Condominiums said the flooding was a regular sight. But others said they were still surprised.

Timothy Jones of Polk County was in town visiting a cousin. "I came through here and got stuck," Jones said. "There's water everywhere around here, honestly. I hate to see if a hurricane came through right now."

The storms also brought plenty of lightning. One bolt stuck a home in Waterford Lakes, while the Lamz family was inside. "It was actually ear-piercing, like you couldn't hear anything else," Nicole Lamz said. "It was a like an aura around the house. It was a big white light.

Firefighters had to put out a small fire that broke out in the Lamz attic, but they said the clay tile roof actually saved the house, by absorbing most of the lightning's energy. Otherwise, they said, it would've been much worse.

The Lamz family used a neighbor's unbrella to temporarily patch the hole in the roof.

The Florida Highway Patrol reported a lightning strike also wiped out a local communications tower used to dispatch troopers. Fortunately, they were still able to communicate by portable radio.