Man struck by lightning in St. Clair County raising safety awareness
LYNN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – During Sunday's storms, a man was hit by lightning in St. Clair County.
It happened on the 8900 block of Capac Road.
According to the St. Clair Sheriff's Office, the victim is a 58-year-old man from Clinton Township who was collecting firewood in this field with another man when the bad weather moved in.
"My son, who lives in the next house, called me, and he says, 'Dad, I was just coming out of the barn, and I saw the lightning. I thought it was at your house," Ed Jedrzejczak, a neighbor, said.
Although Jedrzejczak heard the powerful thunderstorms roll in Sunday afternoon, he didn't think it could hurt someone.
"But when I came back into my kitchen just to get a drink of water, I looked across, and there was originally just one car that was the volunteer fire department showed up. And the police cars came. Then the ambulance came, and another ambulance came," Jedrzejczak said.
The lightning his son saw had struck a man at the house across the street.
"So the one guy that really got hit, they had to bring him back to life," Jedrzejczak said. "They brought him up where the truck was. A couple of guys carried him up here so that the ambulance could have better access to him."
The 58-year-old victim was transported to Marlette Regional Hospital and then transferred to Hurley Medical Center in Flint in critical condition.
The other man he was with, a 62-year-old from Warren, suffered minor injuries and walked away.
"The lightning that occurred yesterday, near where these gentlemen were struck, was on the order of about 100,000 amps. So it's 1000s of times more powerful than the electricity that powers your phones, your TVs and your appliances," Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist and lightning data and safety specialist with the National Lightning Safety Council, told CBS News Detroit.
That electrical surge interferes with the body's central nervous system and can cause cardiac arrest, which is how most people are killed by lightning.
"Lightning doesn't really care what you're doing. If your body sends up an electric charge to meet the lightning that's coming out of the cloud. You could be a victim. So you don't want to be the tallest thing around, and you just don't want to be outside when there are thunderstorms in the area," Vagasky said.
Experts say a vehicle or a building are two safe places that can significantly reduce your chances of getting hurt.
And ultimately, remember this 'When thunder roars, Go indoors' and stay there for half an hour after the last clap of thunder.