OC lifeguard stand damaged by lightning during Wednes. storm
Strike occurs after visitors, lifeguard vacated beach, but after storm had ended
CHRISTINE CULLEN ¦ Staff Writer
This lifeguard stand was damaged when lightning struck the ground beside it during a thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon. The lifeguards had cleared all people off the beach, so no one was hurt by the lightning strike.
OCEAN CITY TODAY/CHRISTINE CULLEN (July 8, 2011) An Ocean City Beach Patrol lifeguard stand was damaged by a lightning strike Wednesday, but no one on the beach was hurt.
A thunderstorm hit the resort in the early afternoon, bringing with it lots of thunder and lightning. One of those bolts of lightning hit the beach beside a lifeguard stand on 127th Street, according to the lifeguard working there that day.
“The beach had been cleared of people for about 30 minutes. We were sitting up at the back, when we saw it hit,” Rusty Barnes said, pointing to the dunes.
When a storm approaches, it’s the beach patrol’s policy to get everyone out of the ocean and off the beach. They are only allowed back on the beach 30 minutes after the last visible lightning strike.
Barnes said the beach was clear of people when the lightning bolt landed beside his wooden lifeguard chair. A piece of wood was blown off the top of the chair, but it otherwise suffered little damage.
“There were blue sparks flying everywhere,” Barnes said.
The Santoro family was vacationing in Ocean City from Pennsylvania and they were on their balcony overlooking the beach and ocean when the lightning struck. The storm appeared to be over, but then the lightning came down right on the beach, Jonathan Santoro said.
“It was very quiet when it hit. We thought it was over,” he said. “When it hit, it sounded like gunshots going off.”
Since there were no people on the beach, Barnes said, no one got hurt. He was unable to use the damaged guard stand.
Beachgoers often complain when the lifeguards remove them from the beach when a storm is coming, beach patrol Lt. Ward Kovacs said, especially if the skies are still blue. He said this incident demonstrates exactly why the lifeguards clear the beach and why it is important to heed their advice.
“This is exactly why we want people to get off the beach when there’s lighting,” Kovacs said. “This was what I call a ‘teaching moment.’”
