Michael Ward, 70, struck & killed by lightning at Burlington Country Club Golf Course. Golfer was struck by lightning bolt as he sought cover amid electrical storm.
A 70 year old man was struck and killed by a lightning bolt as he sought cover along a New Jersey golf course amid the onset of a developing electrical storm on Wednesday afternoon, reports said.
Michael Ward, 70, of Florence, NJ, was seeking shelter on the course at Burlington Country Club in Westampton Township when the storm hit, sources told 6ABC.
Lightning struck a tree nearby where Ward had been playing golf. The golfer died at the scene near the course’s sixth or seventh hole at about 3:30 p.m.
No one had been killed by lightning in the US this year as of Tuesday, which was a record in the country for the longest into a year without a lightning-related death, The Washington Post reported hours before the fatal accident.
Last year, 17 Americans were fatally struck by lightning according to data from the National Weather Service.
FACTS: Lightning can strike up to 25 MILES away from actual storm where it’s raining. Can be sunny where you are. If you can hear thunder, you’re close enough to be struck. “WHEN THUNDER ROARS, GO INDOORS”. Several people struck in area today. https://t.co/7v8wYfwN9H
— Steven Sosna (@SteveSosnaNBC) June 9, 2021
1 in 138,849 chance of dying from a lightning strike
Seventeen people were killed by lightning last year, the Washington Post said, citing National Weather service data.
For those of you thinking you can outsmart lightning strikes, meteorologists warn
individuals that there’s no safe place outdoors during a storm.
According to the National Safety Council, the chance of dying from lightning strike in the US is 1 in 138,849. Similarly the chance from a dog attack is 1 in 86,781, while the chance of dying from hot surfaces and substances is 1 in 63,113.
