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demise from from lightning strikes come to a record low in 2017 in the United States , allot to a raw report .
There were 16 lightning - related fatalities in 2017 , breaking the premature Sir David Alexander Cecil Low of 23 deaths in 2013 , according to the National Weather Service ( NWS ) . The records go back to the 1940s , when farmers using tractor and other farm equipment made up a large proportion of the 200 to 400 masses who died from lightning every year , Live Science report antecedently .
Lightning strikes One World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.
" While we do n’t care to see any lightning deaths , the stay downward trend in annual fatality is encouraging , " John Jensenius , a NSW lightning base hit specialist , told reporters in an email . [ Images of Lightning Unfolding , Frame by Frame ]
With five deaths , Florida had the most lightning - related fatalities , followed by Alabama ( three ) , and Colorado , Texas and North Carolina ( two each ) . Ohio and Puerto Rico each had one lightning - related last .
The twelvemonth 2017 also do a record for fewest U.S. male deaths ( 15 ) and female deaths ( one ) from lightning in a year . The victim ' ages ranged from 0 to 82 , although six of the fatalities were in ages from 30 to 39 , Jensenius said .
Lightning strikes One World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.
Half of the masses were doing recreational activities outdoors — including walking on the beach , hogback riding , fishing , boat , camping and golfing — before lightning struck them . July was the venomous month , with eight lightning - related fatalities , followed by August , which had three .
An analysis of lightning victims from 2006 to 2016 showed that 352 people were mint and kill by lighting in the United States , including 39 in 2016 .
" The plebeian feeling that linksman are responsible for for the great number of lightning deaths was shown to be a myth , " Jenseniuswrote in a report , notice that in the same period , from 2006 to 2016 , in which lightning kill nine golf player , it claim the lives of 33 fisher , 20 people on the beach , 18 campers , 16 straw hat and 12 soccer musician .
The 2017 lightning fatalities, by state
The NWS lightning safety education and knowingness program , which started in 2001 , has " undoubtedly contribute to the decrease in U.S. lightning fatalities , " Jensenius told reporter . What ’s more , cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR ) and robotlike international defibrillator ( AEDs ) have saved the living of mass hit by lightning , hesaid in the paper .
However , many lightning survivor report having womb-to-tomb problems , let in memory issuance . " Oftentimes , they have trouble remembering sometime thing , or storing raw info and then call back that information , " Jenseniustold Live Science previously .
Original article onLive scientific discipline .
