Eastern Connecticut |
The day Kevin Crandall nearly died was May 31, 2005.
Now 60, Crandall remembers the sun shining on one side of the Stonington sky, a fast-moving storm rolling in over the water on the other. The longtime stonemason suggested to his work partner that they should pack up, even though he hadn’t seen any lightning. He remembers walking toward the truck, tools in hand, not wanting to tempt fate. Then, nothing. - - - The number of people who die after being hit by lightning has decreased dramatically since the National Weather Service began recording the statistic in 1940. Back then, upward of 400 people could die in a single year; last year, that number was 27. There are several reasons for that, according to John Jensenius, a lightning specialist with the National Weather Service. For one, he said, fewer small farmers are perched atop tractors in the middle of flat farmland during thunderstorms. Fewer homes have corded phones with a direct connection to the outdoors, too. And, because more people know CPR, fewer lightning strike victims are left helplessly waiting for first responders to arrive. That’s not to say, however, that fewer storms are producing cloud-to-ground lightning. Read more at http://www.theday.com/local/20160910/changed-in-flash-life-after-lightning-strike.
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ABOUTA selection of stories I wrote as a breaking news and police reporter for The Day in New London, Conn. Archives
July 2019
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