{"id":407420,"date":"2026-09-22T18:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T18:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/407420\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T18:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T18:14:14","slug":"check-the-weather-orlando-doctor-issues-lightning-safety-warning-after-deadly-central-florida-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/407420\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Check the weather:\u2019 Orlando doctor issues lightning safety warning after deadly Central Florida strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">ORLANDO, Fla.  \u2013 Central Florida is living up to its nickname. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Historically known as the \u201cLightning Capital\u201d of the United States, Florida leads the nation in lightning-related deaths \u2014 and recent weeks have served as a deadly reminder of that reality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">In July, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/news\/local\/2026\/08\/22\/palm-coast-mother-says-she-and-3-month-old-were-struck-by-lightning-inside-home-while-charging-phone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">lightning struck a Flagler County mother\u2019s home<\/a> while she was holding her baby and a phone plugged into the wall, blowing them both backward. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">In Winter Garden, lightning struck a couple while they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/news\/local\/2026\/09\/19\/bravery-and-heroism-couple-struck-by-lightning-credits-good-samaritans-cpr-with-saving-their-lives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">walking on the West Orange Trail<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Earlier this month, 20-year-old Matthew Jenkins was killed when he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/news\/local\/2026\/09\/09\/man-dies-after-lightning-strike-observed-in-osceola-county\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">hit by lightning while running in Celebration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Dr. Howard Smith, director of the Warden Burn Center at Orlando Health ORMC, has had the difficult conversations that come with lightning strike tragedies, and he wants to make sure more families never have to face them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cThere is nothing worse than having to talk to a family about someone being struck by lightning who is not going to survive,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Smith is urging Central Florida residents to take lightning threats seriously and have a plan before heading outdoors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cIt really is important to prevent yourselves from getting injured and anyone else from getting injured,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we really want to push that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">His advice is straightforward: check the weather before going outside, have a plan to get indoors quickly, and never ignore the sound of thunder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cMake sure that you check the weather, have a plan to evacuate if the storms are bad,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd if you hear thunder, get inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Smith says thunder is the most reliable warning sign that lightning may be close.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cIf you hear thunder, you usually have within 30 seconds that the storm\u2019s pretty close, and you want to stay inside until that thunder\u2019s passed for a good 30 minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that will prevent most people from getting injured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Central Florida is living up to its nickname. Historically known as the \u201cLightning Capital\u201d of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[9662,1335,139,141,6031,140,221],"class_list":["post-407420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-lightning","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-health","tag-orlando-news","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407420","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=407420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}