{"id":73880,"date":"2021-07-29T06:55:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T10:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=73880"},"modified":"2021-07-28T22:05:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T02:05:42","slug":"lightning-tragedy-and-lessons-learned-about-safety-and-awareness-a-look-back-at-one-of-lightnings-deadliest-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/lightning-tragedy-and-lessons-learned-about-safety-and-awareness-a-look-back-at-one-of-lightnings-deadliest-strikes\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightning, Tragedy and Lessons Learned about Safety and Awareness: A Look Back at One of Lightning’s Deadliest Strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

CUMBERLAND, Maine, July 29, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — This Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of one of the deadliest lightning strikes in the U.S. and the National Lightning Safety Council<\/a> is recalling the tragic event to spotlight the dangers of lightning, a common, yet underrated weather peril.<\/p>\n

\"Tragedy
PHOTO CAPTION: A month after the lightning tragedy at Wind Cave, residents from a nearby county erected a plaque and monument to honor the hiking leader and girls killed on August 1, 1951. \u201cUnfortunately, the plaque doesn\u2019t tell the story behind the monument,\u201d explained survivor, Karma Lambert. She hopes that Kelly Loosli\u2019s upcoming documentary will honor the memory of the five people who died and the loss from that tragic day. Photo credit: Leslie Lambert.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lives were shattered in an instant on August 1, 1951 when lightning struck a tree at Wind Cave, Wyoming, killing four girl hikers and their leader and injuring nine others. The hikers were on a trek from a girls\u2019 camp in Darby Canyon to Wind Cave, Ice Cave, and back.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, most people are more aware of lightning\u2019s dangers now than they were in 1951,\u201d said John Jensenius, a lightning safety specialist with the National Lightning Safety Council (NLSC).<\/p>\n

According to Jensenius, the Center for Disease Control<\/a> logged 248 U.S. lightning deaths in 1951, which is one more than the combined total of 247 deaths the NLSC has documented for the past 10 years.<\/p>\n

Karma Lambert, one of the most seriously injured survivors, vividly remembers events up until the time when lightning struck the tall tree that she and several others were sitting under. Lambert, now 84, attributes her survival to the quick actions of hiking guide, Fred Miller, and several older girls who repeatedly administered \u201cartificial respiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lambert\u2019s detailed account of the incident and her 2015 return to the site is featured on her daughter\u2019s website<\/a>: https:\/\/watercolor365.com\/my-mother-a-lightning-survivor-honors-victims\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, 70 years after the event, Kelly Loosli<\/a>, a professor of Animation and Film at Brigham Young University is interviewing survivors of the Wind Cave lightning incident for a documentary he\u2019s preparing. Loosli is the grandson of the then Teton County Sheriff Dwight Loosli, who organized men and horses to rescue the injured and transport the dead in the ensuing hours after the lightning strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy interest stems from my grandfather\u2019s involvement in the rescue and the heroism of all those involved,\u201d said Loosli. \u201cThis was a terrible tragedy and I don\u2019t want to see anything like this ever happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lambert has advice for anyone headed out on a hike, \u201cCheck the forecast and if thunderstorms are predicted, just don\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jensenius wants people to know what happened that tragic day in 1951 to stress the importance of monitoring weather conditions to limit the lightning threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsider canceling or postponing activities if thunderstorms are predicted and remember, when thunder roars, go indoors,\u201d advises Jensenius. \u201cLightning safety is a minor inconvenience that just might save your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Lightning Safety Council invites educators, government officials and others to help build lightning safe communities by learning more about lightning safety, lightning protection and risk reduction.<\/p>\n

Visit the http:\/\/www.lightningsafetycouncil.org\/<\/a> for shareable information, resources and safety tips. Inquiries about specific lightning concerns can also be addressed to Council members via contacts here<\/a>: http:\/\/www.lightningsafetycouncil.com\/LSC-About.html<\/a><\/p>\n

MEDIA CONTACT: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Kimberly Loehr \u2013 Kimberly Loehr Consulting, kim@loehrlightning.com<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED LINKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/data\/vsus\/VSUS_1951_2.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/designdept.byu.edu\/directory\/kelly-loosli<\/a><\/p>\n

#lightning #lightningsafety #lightningsafecommunities @lightningkim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CUMBERLAND, Maine, July 29, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — This Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of one of the deadliest lightning strikes in the U.S. and the National Lightning Safety Council is recalling the tragic event to spotlight the dangers of lightning, a common, yet underrated weather peril.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8702,"featured_media":73855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134,12804,252,526,907,30],"tags":[16572,16573,16574],"class_list":["post-73880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-editorial-news","category-ap","category-home-garden-news","category-maine-news","category-outdoors","category-sports-news","tag-deadly-lightning-strikes","tag-lightning-safety","tag-wind-cave-wyoming","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":8279,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8702"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}