Lightning Strikes

A few weeks ago we had some bad storms in the area. I was at home with Owen and we heard this really loud noise. I had no idea what it was. It almost sounded like a transformer blowing. I walked throughout the entire house to make sure something didn't crash or blow up. Everything looked fine but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad happened. As I was walking around the yard a few days later, I noticed a tree in the back. It was a beautiful Redbud tree that turns purple in the spring completely covered in blooms. This is what it looks like now. It must have been struck by lightning which took off half the tree. I am afraid the poor tree won't survive now. At least it was not near our house and did not catch on fire. It is still scary to know that lightning came that close. And there are much taller trees in our yard and behind our fence. Why that tree?

It was dark when I took the pics but most of the branches you see in the back are from this tree.