MIAMI.- Florida It is considered the state with the highest number of deaths caused by lightning strikes. USA, according to a report from the National Lightning Safety Council. Every year, for every 100 deaths from this cause, an average of between 10 and 13 occur in the Sunshine State.
In Florida, 4 deaths of people who were hit by electric shocks were recorded in 2023. Which makes it the town with the most deaths of this type, followed by Texas with two deaths.
Since 2013, 53 people have died from lightning strikes in Florida. For its part, Texas had 20 cases during that same period, with less than half as many victims.
Additionally, the state is home to the lightning capital, Four Corners, located between Orange, Polk, Osceola and Lake counties. In the city there were more than 1,229 lightning events per square mile in 2022according to a report from leading environmental and industrial measurement company Vaisala.
Although lightning can occur at any time of the year, the greatest lightning activity occurs between May and October. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), more than 25 million lightning strikes occur in the country each year.
Deaths throughout the country
In total, throughout the country, There were 13 people killed by electric shock last year. Which were the result of 12 incidents that occurred on different days, one of the lightning events that occurred on May 15 caused two deaths.
The other nine deaths occurred in the cities of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Alabama and Kentucky.
According to data from the National Lightning Safety Council, The victims ranged in age from 6 to 73 years old, of which ten were men..
On the other hand, they indicated that 5 of the 13 deaths were related to recreational activities. Three of them happened while people were practicing water sports such as swimming, boating and fishing.
The other two victims were due to activities such as hunting and taking a work break outdoors. While work-related tasks such as roofing, livestock and agriculture caused 4 deaths.
One of the cases was that of the construction worker, Edvin J. Velásquez Cinto, who was working on the roof of a house on May 22 when he was struck by lightning during the severe storms recorded in Central Florida.
The remaining 4 deaths were attributed to people’s normal daily routine which included walking from home to the school bus stop, walking to or from a car, and a tree struck by lightning.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the chance of being struck by lightning is less than one in a million, but it can happen. However, electric shocks kill about 20 people each year and hundreds are injured, of whom almost 90% survive.
Lightning strikes most frequently on people who engage in outdoor recreation or work outdoors. Leisure activities such as fishing, boating, playing sports, and relaxing on the beach account for the largest number of lightning deaths.
@Lydr05
Source: With information from Univision and Telemundo
