1 dead, 14 injured, including children, after lightning strike in New Jersey
The lightning strike occurred at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Black Knight Bowbenders archery range in Jackson Township, a suburb in Ocean County located about east of the state's capital city of Trenton. The incident occurred while the club was hosting a competition for the Boy Scouts, according to Joseph Candido, the township's public safety information director.
The lightning strike killed a 61-year-old man and sent another to the Burn Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, a township near Newark and about 50 miles north of Jackson, Candido said. The deceased was later identified as archery instructor Robert Montgomery, of Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey.
In addition to Montgomery, 13 other people, including eight children, were sent to local hospitals for treatment, Candido said. Their injuries ranged from minor burns to some reporting feeling electrical sensations in their bodies, according to Candido. The victims were as young as 7 years old.
The lightning also struck an apartment complex in town, but minor damage was reported, Candido added. Jackson First Aid and multiple other agencies responded to the scene, including Freehold, Howell, Toms River, Plumsted, Millstone, and Hatzolah first aid squads, Candido said.
The Black Knight Bowbenders outdoor archery range is located on nearly 50 wooded acres in a remote area off Perrineville Road. The club features numerous archery competitions throughout the year.
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Mayor: No other incidents reported from the thunderstorm
The incident occurred as thunderstorms were forecasted for parts of the eastern and central United States on July 16, including New Jersey. The lightning strike happened shortly before a severe thunderstorm warning was issued in Ocean County.
Nick Guzzo, a meteorologist on duty at the National Weather Service station in Mount Holly, said the thunderstorm that passed over Jackson "wasn't necessarily anything atypical" of such an event. But he noted that the weather service was aware of what happened in Jackson and was attempting to gather more data on the circumstances that led to the lightning strike.
Reina said that he had spoken to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who offered to send whatever resources the town needed.
"I have been briefed on a lightning strike tonight at an outdoor archery range in Jackson. At this time, we have at least one fatality and multiple injuries," Murphy said in a post on X. "All injured have been transported by first responders. Please pray for everyone involved in this tragic incident."
The mayor said seven outside agencies were assisting, but aside from the incident at the Black Knight Bowbenders, there were no other reported incidents from the storm.
'We're grateful for the offer, but we have no downed trees, no power outages — this was a lightning strike," Reina said.
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Severe weather in the Northeast
The lightning strike also comes just days after powerful storms swept across much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on July 14, inundating cities with heavy rainfall and causing flash flooding in some areas.
The storms killed two people in Plainfield, New Jersey, a suburb about 30 miles outside New York City, and flooded multiple stations in the New York City subway system. Murphy had declared a state of emergency due to the "flash flooding and high levels of rainfall in parts of the state."
Officials recorded 6 inches of rain in under two-and-a-half hours the evening of July 14, Murphy previously said during a news conference. The weather service in Mount Holly also warned that flood impacts were expected to continue on July 15.
Following the storms, a heat advisory was issued on July 16 for parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The advisory remains in effect from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET on July 17 for portions of central and southern Delaware, northeast Maryland, and southern New Jersey, according to the weather service.
Contributing: Christopher Cann
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Lightning strike in New Jersey kills 1 and injures 14, including kids
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