I think the green lightning is actually the phenomena which occurs when electrical transformers blow in a hurricane and the electricity arcs across the moisture in the air causing the green colors all through the sky.
You can see from the pic i posted how the sky looked orange or red too. The first time i saw that I thought a house at a distance was on fire (it looked much worse than that pic) but i think what it was, was a solitary light at a distance (when nobody has power) which somehow gets refracted into red and bounces off the moisture/clouds/air.
I guess it could be transformers..but what we saw was so high up and huge that it's hard to imagine that it came from one aerial transformer. It's possible, I reckon..just hard to imagine. Out of a lifetime of hurricanes down here, that was the only time I've ever seen green like that.
Hurricanes are scary as hell..but my thing is..at least we have plenty of warning, time to prepare, time to haul ass (if you can find the on-ramp....). But with earthquakes and tsunamis and such..you don't have time to do anything. that's why I'd never live in California.
