July 2, 2003 - Hatton Community of Colbert County, Alabama
Initially a call is received at Colbert County E 9-1-1 indicating a child had been struck by lightning. Upon their arrival on the scene, emergency responders were relieved somewhat to find that no one had truly been struck by lightning however, there were some indirect injuries received.
While working in the flower beds of a home in the Hatton community, contractors were unaware of an approaching thunder storm. As they worked in the yard and the clouds drew closer, lightning struck. With all the structures and trees around the area, the lightning chose to strike the ground this time. At this point, one would think the charge would simply be disbursed into the earth and it was, here's where the sequence of events began that lead to the "indirect" injury mentioned earlier.
As the work crew working in the flower bed were heading for cover, one of the crew was struck in the head by a piece of flying debris from the lightning discharge. The lightning bolt struck the ground at the edge of the home's driveway causing an explosion of chips of concrete and chunks of asphalt to be hurled through the air resulting with a piece of the driveway striking the youth.
The good news - Responders from Brick-Hatton VFD and Helen Keller Ambulance Service and Air Evac Station 16, found that injuries the worker sustained did not warrant transportation to the hospital.
Unseen in this photo because of cropping, the left front tire was blown out. Notice the lean of the vehicle. |
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Exploded hole near
truck on Hatton School Rd. |
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Unseen in the photo, the truck also received some burns. |
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Photo Credits: Bruce Carson of Air Evac Lifeteam