Diver Killed by Lightning in Deerfield Beach

[fisheyeview]

Well, this may be a myth but I've always heard lightning starts from the ground and goes up. The lightning effect you see going down is some kind of reaction. I would think that in water, you have a higher chance of being struck than on land. Considering the fact that electricity takes the path of least resistance, that tank of his would have for sure been that path. He was just unlucky enough to be near it.

I may be a mile off on how lightning works, but it's what I was told by a teacher back in high school

Somewhat true. The flash does travel from the ground up, but the storm initiates the strike.

Lightning occurs when there is a difference in the charge between the ground and the atmosphere. When particles collide in a thunderstorm electrons (negative charged particles) are lost. These negative particles build up until they are sufficient to send out a negatively charged feeder (stepped leader) 50 yards out. These step leaderds keep branching off 50 yards at a time until a possitively charged item (the earth, or a possitively charged object on the earth) seeks out the negative feader from the storm. The possitively sharged object seds out a possitively charged streamer. the lightening that we see is the possitive charge going from the ground up the leader. This is the bright flash that we see. This all happens in miliseconds.


Now that the science lesson is over, this is a sad occurance. I also read that the lightning hit his tank.

I have been diving during some pretty bad storms. I have been on a dive boat that was hit by lightning. Lightning travels more efficiently in salt water as it is more conductive than fresh water. However, lightning injuries in salt water are rare due to the shear volume of the ocean disipated the charge rapidly. Fresh water is not as conductive, bit the volume of the body of water can be a limiting factor on how fast the charge disipates. I have been in a lake that took some hits, and it can cause a glow of charged particles around the tank valve and first stage.

If you are diving and see lighting strikes around you if at all possible do not surface. You are safer under water than at the surface.

 

[PapaBob]

This is a sad story and my prayers are with Mr. Wilson and his family. I watched the storm from my back yard window. One of the worst squalls I have seen in 30 years. A staff member was in a condo on the beach about a mile away and said the lightening was comming fast and furious.

If I had to recount my most frightening moment at sea it would be in a squall driving an open cockpit boat with the lightning so close you could feel the shock wave. Twice I have been caught by a squall and ended up hiding in the cuddy cabin of a small boat until it passed. Once I had a strike overhead during a dive at 50'. It lit up the reef and the color was amazing, an unforgetable experience.

I am alway nervous during an electrical storm and this incident is certainly not going to help that. I dive the opening day of sportsman's lobster season on Wednsday and will be talking to the Capt about comming back early before (I hope) the afternoon storms.

This rattles me a bit.

---Bob

 

[Padipro]

We were in the water yesterday about a mile or so south of where this guy was when the storm came through. You could see the lightning flashes and even hear the thunder at 120 feet. It was a nasty little line of stormes.

 

[CBulla]

According to NOAA:

In Florida, It’s Closer To 80,000-​

To-One Per Year Of Being Struck, 1,000-To-One In A Lifetime, And 100-To-One Of Being Seriously Affected
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/resources/Ltg%20Safety-Facts.pdf

Thats about 7 times greater than winning the lotto big jackpot.

In my time with the Fire Dept, we had 5 people killed by strikes... one of them killed 3 at once. Those 3 were a direct strike into the head of the fella who was highest up, followed by the guy who was on his elbow then into the abdoment of the guy laying down.. .the burn marks showed it. Then there was the guy on the phone (land line phone) blown through the kitchen wall into the bedroom.. the reciever still smoking when we got here... the last guy was a dump truck driver who caught the arc off the cab of the truck in his head and threw him 30'... his shoe soles were melted to the gas tank of the truck.

Close by or not its still a killer and it can drop upwards of 5 miles from a cloud... if you see a thunderstorm or hear thunder, head for cover and dont screw around about it. I've had 5 close strikes now, one close enough to fry the electronics on my boat while I was outrunning the storm that seemed to be closing in faster than I could get away... its a real adrenaline rising experience to have a strike that close man.

If this fella was surface, all it would take is a close strike and an arc for him to be a grounding point and he's toast. No AED to offset the heart, if its still working, and he was done for before the flash even went away.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Colin, asking you because of your firefighter experience: is it true or urban legend that you should not take a shower during a lightning storm? And that you should not use a wired telephone or watch TV?

I was anchored during a SI many years back and the boat anchored RIGHT next to us took a hit...fried ALL his electronics...scary as heck. I always carry a spare/portable VHF and GPS but I wonder, would they also be affected if they were on the boat?

As an aside, I once worked with a woman with the surname Kordon who was struck by lightning...she was wearing sneakers and carrying an umbrella. She was OK but it blew out the bottom of her sneakers. I made a new nameplate for her desk: "Flash Kordon."

 

[grandpoobah]

Lightning struck his tank as he surfaced, autopsy determined that Wilson died from electrocution and not drowning.

 

[deepstops]

Colin,
is it true or urban legend that you should not use a wired telephone?

He mentioned one of the victims was on a landline and was knocked through a wall. That seems pretty clear to me

 

[CBulla]

I love being able to access information on the 'net -
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/EMIHC277/29785/35302/327889.html?d=dmtHMSContent

Intellihealth is published by Aetna and Harvard Schools of Medicine:

Don't take a bath or shower during a storm. Yes, you can get shocked if you are near pipes or faucets during an electrical storm, so experts recommend that you avoid taking baths or showers when lightning is striking nearby. You also should avoid being near bodies of water if you are outside during a thunderstorm.

That being said, ffestpirate and I were diving in a lake in instate Florida and we evaluated our ability to head back to our car and gear down to split vs. gas left in tanks and just wait the storm out. We opted to just descend and do skills drills for 45-60 minutes at the 30' platform... I'm thankful we did that as we weren't down a minute or so and we were under the flashes and bangs of a good typical afternoon storm in Florida. It was very fascinating to watch from down under and when we chose to surface (after not seeing flashes for 5 minutes or more) the storm had moved on and we had a safe exit with no "hurried" gear down.

Flash Kordon! :rofl: I love it!

 

[CBulla]

He mentioned of the victims was on a landline and was knocked through a wall. That seems pretty clear to me

Yeah.. it smelled wonderful to... anyone who has ever been around a paramedic administering a shock with paddles knows the smell very well to.. the burnt skin/hair smell from the first shock... that was the lingering smell in the house when we entered behind the Sheriff officer who arrived on scene with us - the call was a possible injury due to lightning strike called in by a neighbor who heard/saw the strike and saw his neighbor 'fall'.

I'm a weirdo I think, I was very fascinated with the whole scene and awed by the power of the electrical strike which hit the telephone pole up the road a little way but chose this path to ground through.

Given a choice, I'll take a lightning strike scene over a motorcycle accident any day.. no where near as messy!

 

[DebbyDiver]

He mentioned one of the victims was on a landline and was knocked through a wall. That seems pretty clear to me

Geez Brian, you sure are being a pain in my butt today. I was asking him because we did not, after all, have the whole story and I did not want to A S S ume...

Thanks for the clarifications Colin. I've always taken those precautions, but wondered if I was just being superstitious.