ORLANDO, Fla. — The United States claimed its seventh lightning-related death of 2022 Tuesday as storms moved across Florida and much of the deep south.
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According to the Lightning Safety Council, lightning strikes claim an average of four lives each June, but only one person was killed last month. July is a far more active month, with an average of eight fatalities.
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Thus far, none of the deaths have been in Florida. One man almost became the eighth death Tuesday when a strike hit a tree he was working close to.
A neighbor said he heard the boom, then ran over and pulled a metal weed whacker out of the landscaper’s hands.
“Not breathing no bolts, starting compressions. That’s when I started,” Edward Williams said, adding that he and another man traded off CPR duties for 15 minutes until first responders arrived.
Each year in the United States, thunderstorms produce 20-25 million lightning flashes that strike the ground, killing an average of 20+ people and injuring hundreds more - often in devastating and permanent ways. https://t.co/inVmRLg4oM pic.twitter.com/NwQBen9unG
— NWS Owlie Skywarn (@NWSOwlieSkywarn) July 18, 2022
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No update was given on the man’s condition Wednesday.
Based on fatalities tracked by the Council since 2006, yard work is one of the 12 activities that leads to the most deaths, at 3%. It is far surpassed by fishing and going to the beach, which are the activities that have led to the most deaths.
Williams, a life-long lineman, said he thought some Floridians don’t take lightning seriously enough, having been desensitized to the near-daily sight every summer.
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“You see it on a beach all the time,” he said, of people continuing to swim during a storm. “It can strike anywhere. There’s no prediction on where it’s going to strike.”
By the end of October, an average of 23 people die by lightning annually. Dozens, if not hundreds more are injured.
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