http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medical.htm

According to the NWS Storm Data, over the last 30 years (1981-2010) the U.S. has averaged 54 reported lightning fatalities per year. Only about 10% of people who are struck by lightning are killed, leaving 90% with various degrees of disability.

Boy Struck By Lightning on Gulf S****s Beach

http://www.local15tv.com/news/...5z029sUltTQ3WUw.cspx

(GULF S****S, Ala.)   A 10-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was struck by lightning on Gulf S****s beach Sunday morning.

Family has identified the victim as Landon Broussard from Louisiana. Broussard is recovering at the University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday night.

Li***uards told Local 15 News there were approximately 20 people on the beach when weather took a turn for the worse. As beachgoers were packing up and leaving, a lightning bolt hit the water’s edge near the boy. 

“As soon as the lightning bolt hit, everyone hit the ground and took off running,” life guard Justin Pearce told Local 15. “Then we saw a person laying by the edge of the water.”

A family member started CPR immediately on the boy and continued until li***uards ran down and took over. Broussard was brought to safe cover in a nearby pavilion until paramedics arrived. 

Broussard was rushed to USA Medical Center. The GSFD battalion chief told Local 15 News paramedics performed CPR in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and were able to get a pulse and the boy started breathing.

Father and son on fishing trip found dead from lightning strike in Louisiana

http://www.examiner.com/articl...ing-strike-louisiana

A father and son found dead on a fishing trip inLouisiana were killed by a lightning strike, authorities said.

Luther Clyde Baham Sr., 54, and his son, Luther Clyde Baham Jr., 33, were believed to have died instantaneously when hit bylightning, said Dawn Panepinto, a spokeswoman for Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards.

Relatives reported that they last heard from the Bahams around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, while they were on a fishing trip on the Natalbany River, saying that the weather was getting bad and that they were seeking shelter.

When the men didn't return home, family members reported them missing around 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

State Wildlife and Fisheries agents found the bodies of the man and his son an hour later at an abandoned tin shelter on the river.

Investigators believe the two were killed instantly by a lightning strike, based on severe lightning damage to surrounding trees in the area.

With these recent lightning deaths, the U.S. death toll from lightning so far this year rises to three.An Alabama boy was struck and killed last month after seeking shelter from a suddenthunderstorm under a tree.

Lightning related fatalities typically rise as the spring and summer months progress with increased thunderstorms. On average two people are killed by lightning in April, six in May and 12 in June, according to the National Weather Service.

The month of July is typically the most dangerous and deadliest month for lightning strikes with an average of 16 deaths each year.

Contributing source: WWLTV

Alabama man killed by lightning at beach

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say an Alabama man was fatally struck by lightning while carrying his stepson on a Florida Panhandle beach.

The Bay County Sheriff's Office says James Keith Brown of Chelsea, Ala., and his family had been staying in a boat anc****d off Shell Island. They were walking on the beach Monday when the weather deteriorated.

The sheriff's office tells The News Herald that Brown began carrying 14-year-old Tristan Berger on his back because the teen had a cast on a broken ankle.

Brown's wife told deputies that she heard a loud crack and turned around to see her son and husband lying in the sand. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene. Berger was hospitalized in Pensacola.

The National Weather Service says it's Florida's second lightning-related fatality this year.

http://timesdaily.com/stories/...ning-at-beach,193894