Fowler Associates Labs

July 18, 2005

Concord, NC -- Louis Besteiro was struck by lighting Monday afternoon at a youth baseball game at Rocky River Elementary School in Concord.

A thunderstorm roared through the area, flooding the baseball field and dropping lightning.

A lightning bolt hit the tent that Besteiro was in. Besteiro was seeking shelter under a tent that was struck by a bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, he was holding onto a metal post.

"I live in Florida which is lightning headquarters and to come to North Carolina and to get hit by lightning, I think it's great," said Besteiro.

The Sunshine State leads the nation in lightning deaths, injuries and casualties.

Medics checked Besteiro out. He says he's feeling a bit numb, but he says he's glad he wasn't hurt more seriously.

Lightning takes an average of 67 lives each year, according to the National Weather Service, which adds that lightning deaths and injuries peak during summer. Two-thirds of all lightning strikes in the U.S. occur in June, July and August.

Lightning is the number two weather killer in the U.S. and North Carolina ranks among the top seven states in the number of annual lightning storms.