Video Shows Lightning Strike Boat Carrying Several People
By Jason Hall
June 27, 2022
Video shared by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the exact moment in which lightning struck a boat carrying seven people.
The incident took place about 100 miles away from the coast of Clearwater, Florida and resulted in all of the passengers being rescued.
"There was just the biggest flash like light bulbs right in your face," boat passenger Sherrie Kelley told FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
Kelley is seen wearing a blue and white hoodie and sitting next to her brother, Glenn Rumer, in the video shared by the Coast Guard and originally captured by another passenger named Josh, which shows a lightning bolt strike right between them.
"The electricity traveled up the outrigger and that ended up breaking in half and that's what part of it was on fire and the rest looked like frayed metal," Kelley told FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
The passengers were participating in a fishing tournament and had gotten caught in a storm at the time of the incident.
Josh began filming the storm as the boat made its way back to shore and managed to capture the lightning strike.
"The electricity from the lightning actually went through him and caused him to black out and go to the floor. That's why you'll see the camera all of a sudden go to the floor and see my sister's shoe and then his leg. He came to immediately, but it was just kind of like, 'whoa'," Rumer said via FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
No one was injured during the lightning strike, however, the the boat's engine experienced significant damage, which resulted in the Coast Guard's rescue response.