Comments
Columbus
Ohio
Top Stories
Weather Forecasts
Thunderstorms fuel increasing flash flooding threat in Texas
12 hours ago
Weather News
Engine fuel supply cut just before Air India jet crash, report says
16 hours ago
Weather News
Texas Hill Country: Before, during and after the flood
17 hours ago
Weather News
Flash flooding swamps Iowa Quad Cities as storms unleash damaging rain
14 hours ago
Severe Weather
Rounds of severe storms to rattle, drench central US
12 hours ago
Featured Stories
Health
How can families handle new anxieties around summer camp?
1 day ago
Weather News
Viral pygmy hippo Moo Deng celebrates her first birthday
1 day ago
Weather News
Orcas are bringing humans gifts of food – but why?
1 day ago
Business
Samsung is looking into more AI devices potentially including earrings...
1 day ago
Weather News
The US has a plan to breed millions of flies and drop them from planes
2 days ago
...
...
News / Severe Weather
2 killed by lightning in North Carolina while clearing debris from Isaias
By Chaffin Mitchell, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Aug 7, 2020 7:50 PM EDT
Aerial footage shows the aftermath of a tornado in Bertie County, North Carolina, that left at least two people dead on Aug. 4.
Two men who survived Hurricane Isaias' 85-mph winds were killed as they were trying to clean up the destruction the storm left behind in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Isaias caused a path of downed trees and limbs, in which homeowner Ralph Thomas Wallace, 77, and his 42-year-old friend were cutting when they were struck by lightning.
The lightning strike also caused damage to the house next door on Bradley Overlook Road when a small attic fire broke out, though no one in the house was injured, Port City Daily said.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The two men were both pronounced dead at the scene mid-morning on Wednesday.
Related:
Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Wilmington, in southern Brunswick County late Monday night. The area endured heavy rains, a flooding storm surge, widespread power outages and deadly tornadoes.
At least 12 deaths due to lightning have been reported across the U.S. so far in 2020. Based on the past 10 years, the U.S. averages 18 lightning deaths through Aug. 5, according to John Jensenius, lightning safety specialist for the National Lightning Safety Council.
The latest fatalities were the first lightning-related deaths in North Carolina since Aug. 23, 2019.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo