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Lightning Strike Kills Swimmer at Fort Myers Beach, Injures Three
One man died and three others were injured after lightning hit swimmers in the ocean at Fort Myers Beach on Friday afternoon. The victims had stopped at the beach while traveling through Florida.
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One unidentified male swimmer was killed by a direct lightning strike at Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Friday afternoon. Three other swimmers nearby were injured and transported to a hospital. The strike occurred around 3 p.m.
All four victims were in the ocean at the time. A bystander deployed an AED and performed CPR on the unresponsive victim, but efforts were unsuccessful. The deceased was a male in his 50s. The three injured individuals appear to be in stable condition.
The victims were traveling to another city in Florida and had stopped at the beach. Fort Myers Beach lies off the southwest Florida coast about 25 miles north of Naples. Florida leads the nation in annual lightning strikes, and July ranks as the month with the highest danger according to national monitoring data.
Lightning can strike 10 to 15 miles from a storm's core. A sharply divided weather pattern is forecast across the United States on July 4, with extreme heat in the West and thunderstorms from the Plains to the East Coast. Temperatures have exceeded 100 degrees in parts of the Northeast.
Organizers cancelled America's Independence Day Parade, set to begin Saturday morning, citing safety concerns from the heat. The Town of Fort Myers Beach issued a statement expressing condolences to the family of the deceased. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno urged residents and visitors to monitor weather and seek shelter if lightning is observed.
