AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — Four people were injured in a lightning strike on Grandfather Mountain Friday, according to emergency management.
A thunderstorm moving over the area injured those members of the group of seven people who were atop MacRae Peak, according to the information released Friday via the National Weather Service.
One of those injured fell as a result of the lightning strike. This person suffered a head trauma that required an ambulance ride to a hospital. A second person suffered burns, according to the officials. The content of their injuries was not immediately known.
Previously, emergency management reports to the NWS indicated all seven people were injured and one person required an airlift for treatment. However, a later update from the agency clarified this with the updated information that only four people were injured and an airlift was not needed for the one person that needed transport.
Lightning is a major cause of storm-related deaths and injuries in the United States, according to data from the National Weather Service. Between 2009 and 2018, the National Weather Service says an average of 243 people were injured annually by lightning. That same data said an average of 27 people died yearly.
The odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime is 1 in 15,300.
