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Subscribe to RSSMore than a dozen people were hospitalized after lightning struck an outdoor food festival in Whitby, Ontario, on Sunday, according to Canadian news reports.
Lightning struck a tent at the Whitby Ribfest, about 40 miles east of Toronto, just before 2 p.m. ET, leaving at least 17 people injured, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
It quoted organizers as saying the weather changed rapidly, leaving many at the event to squeeze under a tent moment before the strike.
One of those struck, Bill Sandiford, told the CBC: "The tent was absolutely packed full of people. It was so painful, yet the pain was gone so fast. The pain didn't linger.”
Durham police Sgt. Al Valks told the Toronto Star seven people were rushed to the hospital while the other 10 made their own way there. All of them suffered burn wounds from the strike.
"Apparently the electricity went through their feet up through their bodies. It was painful," he told the newspaper.
Steve Peddle and his wife Rose were inside the dining tent when the strike happened.
"You see the flash and it sounded like a bomb (went off) exactly at the same time," he told the Star. "It was so loud."
Organizer Colin Regan said the event tents had lightning rods on top and had prepared for stormy weather.
The Durham region had been under a severe thunderstorm warning Sunday.
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Leave a Comment:
2012 is definitely Canada's year in the barrel....
Moron
Making a note for future reference..."dave-2177659 considers himself a moron". Fine.
I am shocked, I tell you, shocked.
see, even lightning hates Canadians. Told ya so.
what a Dick... lol
"the event tents had lightning rods on top and had prepared for stormy weather."
I would question the grounding of the lightning rods. Sounds like there was not enough contact in the earth. I bet the fact that so many were under the tent is what saved them all, current sharing. If only one or two people took the blast, they would have likely not survived.
Lightning rods can only divert the majority of the current. With lightning, there is so much current that it can spread out along the ground for dozens of feet in all directions, even when properly grounded.
As another poster below stated, without the lightning rods, they would have had several people dead, instead of suffering only burn injuries.
In this instance LRs were a double edge sword. They offered a preferred path for the bolt to take, it may have hit somewhere else had they not been there, yet if the tent had gotten hit without them the full force would have gone thru all the people, not thru the LR to earth, and you would have had 17 dead, not just stunned.
Whad I say in the other ARTICLE! Lightning can get you anywhere! Its just a Matter of Time! LOOKOUT!
@MauiBuck...idiot...
If the lightning rods were grounded into wet earth the water would still conduct the electricity, hence into their feet.
Note to self: Add "crowd into tent" as one of the things NOT TO DO in the thunderstorm. Hope no one has any lingering bad side effects.
This was Bush's fault. He can control everything from his home in Midland Texas.
ITS kind of Early in the day to be Drunk, EH ? ryguy ?.... (just for your SAFETY, Don't Wear your Foil Hat during a THUNDER STORM... hmm, on second thought.. lol) just kidding.
It might be a bad idea to attend outside events during a severe thunderstorm warning.
A lot of southern Ontario has been under 'severe thunderstorm warning' almost daily, for the better part of the last 2 weeks. Yesterday was the first time it actually rained or did anything.
Watches are generally issued for broad areas without specific threats. Warnings aren't issued unless a thunderstorm has been detected.
Mother Nature was heard to exclaim, "Rats! the little pests ran under that white covered thing....oh, well, next time...."
this story is shocking
At least they didn't have to pay for any medical care they needed.
Only in Canada, you say? Pity.
only quebec province has free health care everyone else has to pay something in!
@ryguy198130
Oh how pertinent!
Rhetorical yes, Sarcastic maybe... out of scope and uncalled for Definitely!!!
I think everyone but trolls are sick of political comments when it has nothing to do with politics. What.... nobodies listening and you have to force your opinion on others?... or do you just need the attention?... droll I mean troll...
PITIFUL!!!
Seconded.. And Thank you ! ... Definitely feeling ya'll on that thought !
You're right, had this happened in america,they would be thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. One third of them would not be insured, and the rest would be denied by their insurance, lol.
This 3rd world cesspool of un-civilized animals deserves nothing from the US. Burning our flag is an insult and goes to show itslack of appreciation for the aid we've wasted on it. It is incapable of joining a civilized society and is neither an ally, nor a strategic location to be valued. Let's take care of America and stop wasting precious resources on these pieces of human garbage. Americans should be outraged.
hmmm....are you sure you're posting on the right article?
Bill ???
These people are happy to profit off of tension and hatred toward the United States, all while enjoying their Mountain Dew...hypocrites. All I can say is: typical. People in the middle east are constantly demonizing the Western civilization and then enjoying products created by the evil empire they hate so much. We need to turn our backs on the middle east and let them sort out their insurmountable problems on their own (because we all know that they have a great track record for handling their issues with a civilized flair). These countries and people are a complete waste of all of our resources and they are NEVER going to change.
um... JLoves41802 - last time i looked this article was written about lightning strikes in Canada.. perhaps you are lost ?
Back in 85, when i was Going to Placer High School, in Auburn CA. I was sitting in my little Honda with a couple of Girls smoking a... um, Ciggarette.. with the perfect Thunder Storm Raging outside.. my lil' Honda Got Hit... and its true, you are safer in a car... dont touch any Metal !... lol. anyway.. we got hit and we were fine, but my honda was D.O.A. it flattened the tires and Fried the Electical.. one of those B****es joined a church after that ! but i can say its true about staying in the car or in a proper Structure... (can i get an AMEN... LOL ! )