Our
area is the lightning death capital of the world. It
pays to keep that in mind when enjoying the great outdoors.
I do NOT want to be caught crossing a large open body
of water during a thunderstorm!
I met a man one day
who had been struck by lightning while driving his airboat.
He had been watching the weather, and even though the storm
still appeared to be far away he and his passenger were
heading for camp as fast as they could.
The
passenger was leaning forward with one hand on the drivers
shoulder and the other hand on the back of the seat when
lightning struck. It struck the driver in the right shoulder,
went through his body, made a hole in the solid metal seat
back, went through the passenger and back into the driver
again - exiting his body by blowing the tip off his left
big toe!
They lost control
of the airboat (no kidding!) and crashed in a remote area.
They wandered about so disoriented from the lightning strike
that they couldn't even find their way back to town. They
finally managed to stagger close enough to some farmland
that some men found them and got them to the hospital.
I saw the hole in
the seat back and stuck my finger through it. I have a
lot of respect for anything that can blast a hole through
metal. Those two guys were lucky to be alive to tell that
particular story!