Authorities in Volusia County, Florida report that one man is dead and two more are injured after being struck by lightning on Friday, as heavy rains and thunderstorms passed over the area. The fatal lightning strike occurred just before 12:30pm, hitting a 29-year-old man from Colorado who was reported to have been standing in ankle-deep water in New Smyrna Beach. According to Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue spokesperson Tamra Malphurs, CPR was immediately administered and other life-saving measures were performed, but the man remained unresponsive and was transported from the scene, ultimately succumbing to his injuries.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood revealed the man was in Florida with his wife on their honeymoon. In a post to Facebook, he wrote, “They were visiting our beaches to celebrate their marriage. In one terrifying second, everything changed.”
In a separate instance on the same day, two people were also struck by lightning while golfing at the Venetian Bay golf course. Both were evaluated and deemed not in need of transport to the hospital or treatment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 444 people have been killed by lightning strikes across the United States between 2006 and 2021, even as almost 90% of all lightning strike victims survive. The federal agency also reports that Florida is the “lightning capital” of the country, with more than 2,000 lightning strike injuries over the past 50 years. The state also receives over a million lightning strikes annually, out of a national total of around 40 million. The local FOX affiliate reports over 170 lightning strikes in the New Smyrna Beach on Friday.
City Spokesperson Ava Hanner urged residents to take the threat of lightning strikes seriously. “This serves as an important reminder of, ‘when thunder roars, go indoors, if you can hear thunder, you’re close enough to be struck by lightning, even if the sky looks clear.”
