BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A 12-year-old girl was hurt Monday from a lightning strike at Sebastian Inlet State Park, which sits on the southern border of Brevard County near the Indian River County line.
"The girl was found somewhat responsive at the scene," Tod Goodyear, a spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, said.
Goodyear said the girl was around the tidal pool area when that lightning strike happened.
It's described as a wading area, that's not very deep, just off of the inlet at the cut-through where the water comes up.
"A lot of people will play in it or cool off in that area so I don't know if she was actually in the water or the water's edge," Goodyear said. "I don't know if it was a direct strike or peripheral strike, I haven't gotten all the information yet."
Florida is known as the lightning capital of the country, leaving 2,000-plus people hurt over the last 50 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported that, between 2006 and 2021, there have been 444 deaths because of lightning strikes.
"It was a pretty heavy storm it was quick duration, but it came up and went through kind of like they do that in the afternoons up here," Goodyear said.
WPTV First Alert Weather meteorologist James Weiland tracked the storm Monday evening and said there were dozens of lightning strikes in the area at the time of the incident.
