Lightning Strikes Teacher During 'Thunderstorm' Nor'easter
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A middle school teacher in southern New Jersey has been struck by lightning during a "thunderstorm" sweeping up the East Coast.
Capt. Todd Malland of the Manchester Township police department says the woman was holding an umbrella while on bus duty outside the Manchester Middle School around 2:30 p.m. when the strike occurred.
Malland says the woman felt tingling but didn't lose consciousness and wasn't knocked to the ground. She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A second woman who had been standing underneath the umbrella but not holding it escaped injury.
Meteorologists and residents are reporting flashes of lightning and booming thunder from the Philadelphia area to New York City. Experts say the unusual phenomenon is caused by shallow layers of rising, unstable air.
The nor'easter is expected to intensify as it moves up the coast, with snowfall rates up to 3 inches per hour. The National Weather Service is warning of a treacherous evening commute.
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