WATERLOO REGION — Three lightning strikes within 18 hours caused death and destruction across the region.

The last reported strike destroyed an empty camper trailer just before 3 a.m. Saturday. The trailer was parked at a sports club on Pioneer Tower Road in south Kitchener. Firefighters arrived to find it engulfed in flames and point to lightning as the cause. No one was hurt.

Lightning set an attic on fire on Pine Valley Drive in southwest Kitchener just before 8 p.m. Friday. The loud bang startled a family of four. They got out of their house safely before firefighters extinguished the small blaze, which left a hole in the roof and charred part of the attic.

On the University of Waterloo campus, an 18-year-old student was killed by lightning just after 9 a.m. Friday. She was caught in a thunderstorm while walking on a pathway to her residence. The Waterloo fire department says she took refuge beneath a tree.

Two thunderstorms rattled the region Friday and Saturday. Firefighters frequently respond to lightning strikes although the impact since Friday has been severe.

"Storms are getting worse lately, last couple of years," said Andy O'Reilly, an assistant platoon chief with the Kitchener Fire Department. Lightning "can be very powerful. You never know where it's going strike. There's so much power there."

Canada endures more than two million lightning strikes every year. On average, lightning kills about a dozen Canadians a year and injures up to 160.

Environment Canada warns there's no safe place outdoors when thunder roars. Lightning can strike nearly 20 km ahead of an advancing storm and just as far behind in its wake. People are advised to take shelter immediately, preferably inside a well-constructed building, and stay indoors for 30 minutes after the last rumble.