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JACKSON, N.J. — One person was killed and 14 others were injured, including 14 children, officials said after a lightning strike in New Jersey’s outdoor archery range on July 16.
Lightning occurred at 7:07pm at the Black Night Bow Benders Archery Range in Jackson Township, a suburb of Ocean County, east of the state’s capital, Trenton. The incident occurred while the club was hosting a competition for Boy Scouts, according to Township’s Director of Public Safety Information.
The Lightning strike killed a 61-year-old man and sent another man to Burn Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, a township near Newark, Kandy said, about 50 miles north of Jackson.
“Eight of the victims were boys,” Mayor Michael Reina said. “The deceased is an instructor. It appears that the victim was with (American scouting) or Cub scouts. Unfortunately, one of the 14 people was taken to the hospital.”
In addition to the burn victims, 13 other people, including eight children, were sent to local hospitals for treatment, Kandy said. According to Canzid, their injuries ranged from mild burns to reporting sensations of electrical sensation within the body.
Lightning also struck an apartment in town, but minor damage was reported, Candida added. Jackson’s first aid and several other agencies responded to the scene, including first aid forces from Freehold, Howell, Tom’s River, Plumstead, Millstone and Hazzola.
The Black Knight Bowbenders outdoor archery range is located on approximately 50 acres remotely on Perrineville Road. The club hosts numerous archery competitions throughout the year.
Mayor: No other incidents have been reported from a thunderstorm
The incident occurred on July 16th, as thunderstorms were predicted in parts of the eastern and central US, including New Jersey. Lightning occurred just before a serious thunderstorm warning was issued in Ocean County.
Meteorologist Nick Guzzo, who works at the National Weather Service Station on Mount Holly, said the thunderstorms that passed through Jackson were “not necessarily atypical” for such events. However, he noted that the Weather Service knew what happened in Jackson and was trying to gather more data on the situation that led to the lightning strike.
Reina said she spoke to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
“I was described tonight about lightning strikes in Jackson’s outdoor archery area. At this point, there is at least one death and multiple injuries,” Murphy said in a post on X.
The mayor said seven outside agencies were supporting him, but apart from the incident at Black Knight Bowbender, there were no other reported cases from the storm.
“I’m grateful for the offer, but there were no fallen trees or blackouts. This was a lightning strike,” Reina said.
Northeastern weather
Also, a few days after a strong attack on most of the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic on July 14th, lightning strikes occur several days after heavy rains have penetrated cities that have soaked and caused flash floods in some areas.
The storm killed two people in Plainfield, New Jersey, and killed multiple stations in the New York City subway system in the suburbs, about 30 miles away. Murphy had declared an emergency due to “flash floods and high levels of rainfall in some of the state.”
Authorities recorded six inches of rain in two and a half hours on the evening of July 14th, Murphy previously said at a press conference. Mount Holly Weather Service also warned that the impact of the flood is expected to continue on July 15th.
Following the storm, heat advisories were issued on July 16th to parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. The consultation will be valid from 10am to 8pm on July 17th and from 10am to 8pm on July 17th, and from 10am to 8pm on July 17th, according to the Weather Bureau.
