A Reader Recalls Being Struck by Lightning

My piece on Lightning safety brought a neat comment from Emma who was struck by lightning as a child and lived to tell. She points out that she can’t wear a watch. Here is the rest of the story….

Would you believe I was struck by lightning when I was a kid?

I was a lucky one…I can’t wear a watch though…stops after a couple weeks.

My cousins and myself was out on the veranda when a rainstorm came up. We were pulling back the large cushioned lawn chairs so they would not get wet from the wind driven rain. I happened to look up and saw a lighting bolt hit a huge 100+-year-old maple tree. Next thing I knew, we were all lifted and thrown about 10 ft. from where we were standing. I landed on some stairs ..ouch! Others were thrown into the wall…etc… I recall feeling a strong jolt more than an electric fence would give off. None of us had any damaging effects….thank goodness. The electricity evidently came through us and made a left hand turn into the kitchen door where my aunt stood and watched it come in the opened door and through the kitchen right out the opened back kitchen door. …..we all shook for a while. I remember our hair standing up straight, we all giggled about that for a while. When we get together about ever 10 years we still talk about it, like it just happened.

The relation of the watch is since that day….I have not been able to keep time on any watch. It will just stop….I have been told the lighting strike may have something to do with it….. ??

Thanks, Emma.

Have others been struck by lightning? If so, love to hear your experience.

I mentioned that Central Florida has the greatest frequency of thunderstorms. You can expect t-storms there at least 90 days of the year, most of it occurring during June, July, and August. That is literally every day! In contrast, along the US West Coast, thunderstorms occur less than 5 days a year on average. And, in British Columbia, there are some years without a single thunderstorm.

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