NCPI Workmark
Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.

Electrifying Presence

Record #:
8941
Author(s):
Abstract:
North Carolina ranks second in the total number of reported fatalities and fourth in reported injuries from lightning strikes. Between 1959 and 2004, lightning killed 182 people in the state and injured an additional 550 who survived. The high incidence of strikes is directly related to the large number of North Carolinians who engage in outdoor activities, either for work or pleasure. In 1907, fifty Cape Fear Power Company construction workers in Chatham County took refuge in a building as a storm approached; lightning struck the structure, killing seven and injuring the rest. This record stood until 1961, when lightning struck a Sampson County tobacco barn, killing eight and injuring four. The record of eight deaths from a single lightning bolt remains unsurpassed in the nation.
Source:
Our State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 75 Issue 1, June 2007, p34-38, il
Subject(s):