GEORGETOWN, S.C. — One person is dead and a dozen people were taken to the hospital after a lightning strike in South Carolina Thursday.
Multiple media outlets report the death happened at the Lawshe Plantation in Georgetown County, which is a popular event venue along the Black River in that area. One died,and authorities say about a dozen people were taken to a hospital - and most were in fair condition - after lightning struck at a popular gathering spot along a South Carolina river on Independence Day while the others suffered non-serious injuries.
The Georgetown County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 44-year-old Ryan Gamble of Andrews.
The Post & Courier reported that Georgetown Fire and Rescue said the victims were under a tree when the bolt hit. A person who lives nearby told WCSC in Charleston a group of people had been out on a boat on the Black River and had come back to shore to grill food. That's when the lightning hit the tree's top, splintering it.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington, NC had initially said that 12 people were injured and four of them were unresponsive.
That area had been under at least two severe thunderstorm warnings Thursday.
It is possible for a single lightning strike to injure more than one person. According to Accuweather, if a bolt strikes something on the ground, the energy can radiate outward on the ground. Anyone in that area could be at risk for injury.