Lake Superior Lightning Strike Kills Boy On Minnesota Point

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota authorities say a lightning strike on a Lake Superior beach injured eight people, including a 9-year-old Wisconsin boy who later died.

The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said Sunday that all eight were on a sailboat that took refuge from a rapidly approaching thunderstorm on Minnesota Point, near the Superior Entry to the Duluth-Superior harbor, about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Lighting struck before they could get off the boat, but one person was able to call 911.

Law enforcement and rescue agencies rushed there by boat and ATV.

The 9-year-old boy from Iron River, Wis., was flown to a Duluth hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released. Four others were taken to Duluth hospitals with what authorities described as severe but not life-threatening injuries.

Loading Slideshow

• Rain clouds sweep over the desert plains on the Birdsville Track June 9, 2005 near Marree, Australia. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

• A storm cloud passes over as the US space shuttle Discovery sits on Pad 39A on November 3, 2010 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

• A girl gathers flowers of rapeseed (brassica napus) in a field some 300 km from Kiev prior to heavy rain on May 10, 2010. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

• Rain clouds sweep over the desert plains on the Birdsville Track June 9, 2005 near Marree, Australia. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

• Clouds hang over the Hong Kong skyline on May 22, 2011. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

• The cathedral of Strasbourg, eastern France is pictured on September 18, 2011 as the sun sets on a cloudy sky. (PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images)

• Simon Buret, the singer of French band Aaron, performs during the second day of the 36th edition of the Paleo festival on July 20, 2011 in Nyon. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

• A cumulonimbus cloud as seen from a commercial airliner on May 28, 2009. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

• Rainclouds cover the buildings in the central business district of Bangkok on June 16, 2008. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/Getty Images)

• Huge rainclouds gather on the horizon beyond Belarabon Station May 17, 2007 in Cobar, Australia. (Photo by Getty Images)

• Rain clouds loom over the city skyline November 23, 2005 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by John Pryke/Getty Images)

• Villagers walk against a backdrop of cyclone clouds on the outskirts of the eastern temple city Bhubaneswar on May 25, 2009. (ASIT KUMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

• Dark rainclouds loom before a heavy downpour, which delayed the start of the IPL Twenty20 cricket match between Pune Warriors India and Royal Challengers Bangalore at The Subroto Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune on May 11, 2012. (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/GettyImages)

• Indian walk along Juhu Beach in Mumbai on July 22, 2008 as monsoon rainclouds gather overhead. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

• Storm Clouds gather during day 3 of the Fifth Test between South Africa and England on January 23 2005 at Centurion Cricket Ground, Pretoria, South Africa (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

• Also On The Huffington Post...

  Research is finding that there may be a link between lightning and migraines. The reason could be changes to the air's ionic charges from a lightning strike affecting a person's brain, giving them a migraine. But the scientists admit more research needs to be done. Patrick Jones has the story.

From our partners

• How Two Determined Sisters Set Up A Pet Rescue Pipeline To Colorado - Mother Nature Network
• Panel Finds Flaws In Hurricane Sandy Warning System - Climate Central
• 11 Images And Facts About A Misunderstood Creature - Mother Nature Network

Comments

[bluesteel92]

03:13 PM on 08/23/2012

Quite sad. I see alot of people on this thread asking why him and not someone else? Here's my answer: He was on a boat with a mast sticking up in the air during a lightning storm. There need not be any more reason than that.

[janmB]

05:33 AM on 08/23/2012

People continue to gamble that lightning won't hit them.

[MNJim]

03:46 AM on 08/23/2012

Wow----I have sailed on a friend's boat in Lake Superior around the Apostle Islands on the South Shore---by Wisconsin. I am always interested in weather phenomenon but was actually frightened several times where storms would come up so fast off those hills on shore. We would be out in the lake and notice some dark clouds starting to build; "let's keep our eye on those." Twenty minutes later they really are getting worse so we decide we better turn around and head for port, which is 45 minutes away. In a couple of minutes the winds are blowing like crazy and lightning is starting.

Sea captains have said during storms, they have found the lake worse to sail than the ocean. The waves are as big but they aren't spaced apart as much as they are on the ocean, so their vessels don't have as much time to stabilize between waves.

[HURRICANEPAUL]

02:51 AM on 08/23/2012

I read stories like this...and I say to myself... OUT LOUD..."God takes this 9 year old kid, and HE keeps me?"

I don't get it.

I have said many prayers that say "Please God, take me in stead of some kid who is way more worthy of living than me"

[jwald1]

05:03 AM on 08/23/2012

I think this is so sad, but I am not a big believer and if I was I would not think that God would have the time to pick and choose who is going to die, or if he did than there would be a reason. I am not sure what you have done in your life, but unless it included molesting or murder you are as worthy as anyone. You could always volunteer for something that would improve someone else's life and make you feel better about yours.

[linkydio]

07:31 AM on 08/23/2012

Oh, Hurricanepaul, Just the fact that you have such compassion makes you more than worthy!
Love, L

[truly moderate]

02:05 AM on 08/23/2012

I have astraphobia (which is an intense fear of lightning) so my total empathy to the child and family.

Glad to see no one is blaming global warming for this tragedy at the least.

[janmB]

05:35 AM on 08/23/2012

I have an intense fear of lightning having a couple incidents in my lifetime but I also fear global warming.

[Danielle 86]

07:13 PM on 08/21/2012

All I need is more articles like this. As if lightning didn't scare me enough.

[gylliwyn]

12:12 PM on 08/21/2012

Last week as I was in my yard with a friend a huge barrage of thunder seemed to come out of a very small, nonthreatening assortment of clouds. Everyone within the vicinity was totally freaked at this sonorous and fearful sound, which many described as initially considering it to be a bomb!

It wasn't until days later I found out a teenage daughter, whose bedroom window overlooks their sloping driveway, actually saw the lightning hit their driveway. I was standing a mere 50 feet from that epicenter and realize now how close I was to submitting to something as tragic as this little boy's brief life.

Why him? If only.............. We always ask those questions and wonder about varying circumstances when there seems to be no logic to such an uncanny demise to our existence!

I am so sorry for your loss, and will think of your unfortunate situation often, esp. when I am reminded of it with a storm.

[Loris BarrettMullins]

10:44 AM on 08/21/2012

I am so sorry to hear this....I used to play on Park Point, Lake Superior every summer. I loved it, loved the sad moan of the oarboats. I loved Duluth where my relatives lived. It is a beautiful place. My heart goes out to the family, it is beyond words.

[mamacat]

01:53 AM on 08/21/2012

So sorry for the loss of life, and the injuries.

Forty some years ago I was knocked unconscious when lightning struck about 10 feet away. I remember seeing the lightning, but not feeling the shock wave. I think it must have been the shock wave that knocked me down and out.

[mamahappy]

12:04 AM on 08/21/2012

May they all rest in peace.

[Robert Curry]

03:25 AM on 08/20/2012

I would bet there was no grounding wire running down the sailboats mast to a large, underwater hull ground plate. Properly installed, such a system goes a LONG ways to making such disasters less likely! I am sorry to hear of the loss, but hopefully, others may LEARN from this.

[Just4theHalibut]

03:46 PM on 08/20/2012

Never heard of such a thing, can these be put on smaller sailboats?

[Robert Curry]

04:57 PM on 08/20/2012

Lightning protection can be installed on most anything! A sailboat, regardless of size, should have a suitable grounding conductor installed along the length of its non-metallic mast, down to the bottom and directly connected to its metal hull, or if built of Non-Metallic hull construction, a large metal plate should be installed below the waterline, and the mast ground should connect directly to this! On a metal boat with a grounded METAL mast, you are much safer, as there would be a ready path to ground,without severely impacting the occupants! Fiberglass boats, with fiber masts, become very hazardous when wet and hit by lightning, as there is little to safely direct the electricity to the water and ground,so anything in its path gets zapped! I would advise using at least 6 guage Copper wire as a ground conector-It should be painted/coated to prevent corrosion and discourage THEFT. (If it looks like copper, thieves often will cut it aqnd steal it!)

[Lisa Seville]

01:14 AM on 08/20/2012

RIP lil boy.......

[Griz91]

11:06 PM on 08/19/2012

I am so sorry for these people and their families but what really strikes me is the fact that when this happened at a NASCAR race everyone was blaming NASCAR, why is noone blaming the boating community or the lake? It was no more these peoples fault that they were hit by lightening than it was NASCARs fault when that family was hit by lightening. They were all out to enjoy they day and something unforseeable happened.

[baxtron]

04:31 PM on 08/20/2012

NASCAR was hosting an event. as a host, you are responsible for your guests. these people were hosting their own event on a boat.

[Griz91]

06:34 PM on 08/20/2012

So you're saying the owner of the boat, as the host is responsible for these people being hit by lightening.

[wblum524]

09:02 AM on 08/22/2012

can we sue god?

[ProgressivePatrol]

11:00 PM on 08/19/2012

I am sure every human being shares the grief of these parents. Please accept my deepest sympathy on your loss.

[RustamnTanya Qazi]

10:45 PM on 08/19/2012

And yet my husband scoffs at me whenever i ask him not to stand outside in the patio during an approaching thunderstorm.In fact the more i tell him to come inside the longer it takes him to do it. Why is it so hard for men to be cautious? Or is it because their wife told them not to do it?

[Just4theHalibut]

03:49 PM on 08/20/2012

You have my sympathy. MY husband stood in the open carport when the big storm swept thru the DC area in early July. It was continuous lightning, he kept saying -- I've never seen anything like this! I kept yelling, yeah, and it may be the LAST thing you ever see.

[RustamnTanya Qazi]

08:49 PM on 08/20/2012

Men.....!!!!!

[Lechiffre]

03:39 PM on 08/21/2012

You'll find that we are actually attracted by those thunderstorm. I don't know but I've always wanted to be real close. I don't want to end up like grilled shrimp but still.

[Martial024]

10:14 AM on 08/23/2012

Yeah, I have never had any fear of walking out into a storm, depending on your surroundings its not likely you'll be hit anyway.