{"id":293433,"date":"2026-06-02T19:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/293433\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T19:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:19:10","slug":"18-year-old-dies-after-being-struck-by-lightning-while-kayaking-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/293433\/","title":{"rendered":"18-year-old dies after being struck by lightning while kayaking in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"sub-text\">Lightning Safety Specialist John Jensenius and Dr. Taryn Travis, a Burn Surgeon at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, joins FOX Weather to share the best tips on how to stay safe during this type of severe weather, after a man in Wisconsin tragically died.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Flo. &#8211; A man kayaking on a river in Santa Rosa County, <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/florida\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Florida<\/a>, died after being struck by <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/lightning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">lightning<\/a> and falling into the river.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">On Sunday afternoon, 18-year-old Michael Vargas and his father were kayaking on the Blackwater River when Vargas was struck by lightning and fell off his kayak.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gettyimages-1098121836.jpg\" alt=\"Aerial view of Blackwater River in Milton, Florida at sunrise\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Aerial view of Blackwater River in Milton, Florida at sunrise<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"> (George Dodd \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Vargas&#8217; dad and Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation employees witnessed the incident, and immediately began searching for him in the water.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">The Florida Fish and <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/wildlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Wildlife<\/a> Conservation Commission (FWC) was notified of Vargas&#8217; disappearance just before 12:30 p.m., and was dispatched to assist with the search along with Santa Rosa County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Escambia County Sheriff\u2019s Office Dive Team and Daphne Search and Rescue.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/weather-news\/man-dies-after-being-struck-lightning-wisconsin-parking-lot-severe-storms-roll-through-region\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">WATCH: MASSIVE 60-TON ANIMATRONIC DINOSAUR CATCHES FIRE AT KANSAS PARK FOLLOWING LIGHTNING STRIKE<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">FWC said Vargas was found dead in the water.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gettyimages-2220008876.jpg\" alt=\"A scenic view of the Blackwater River Swing Bridge spanning the Blackwater River in Milton, Florida, on a partly cloudy day. \"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">A scenic view of the Blackwater River Swing Bridge spanning the Blackwater River in Milton, Florida, on a partly cloudy day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"> (Rob Perlis \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">&#8220;The FWC extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Michael Aiden Vargas during this difficult time,&#8221; Florida FWC said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">This is the second reported lightning death in the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">U.S<\/a>. in 2026, according to the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_7\" href=\"https:\/\/lightningsafetycouncil.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">National Lightning Safety Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/weather-news\/man-dies-after-being-struck-lightning-wisconsin-parking-lot-severe-storms-roll-through-region\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">MAN DIES AFTER BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN WISCONSIN PARKING LOT AS SEVERE STORMS ROLL THROUGH THE REGION<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-lightning-fatalities-map16.png\" alt=\"2026 lightning fatalities as of June 1. lightning fatalities\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">2026 lightning fatalities as of June 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"> (National Lightning Safety Council \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">A 41-year-old man died in April while walking through a parking lot in <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/wisconsin\/pewaukee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Pewaukee<\/a>, <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/wisconsin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Wisconsin<\/a>, the National Lightning Safety Council reported.<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/how-to-watch-fox-weather-on-tv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">On average, since 2016, 17 people die each year from <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_extreme-weather_article_main-content_article-body_2_12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/lightning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">lightning<\/a> strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lightning Safety Specialist John Jensenius and Dr. Taryn Travis, a Burn Surgeon at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, joins&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,9662,105,512,82689,628],"class_list":["post-293433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-lightning","tag-outdoors","tag-southeast","tag-stay22","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}