Mother and 2-Year-Old Daughter Killed by Lightning in Florida

A rapidly developing thunderstorm produced hundreds of lightning strikes in a matter of minutes, killing a mother and her young daughter in Florida on Sunday. Read on for the details of this tragic situation.

Two People Killed in Florida at Hands of Lightning Storm

A 31-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter died on Sunday afternoon when a lightning storm unfolded over South Florida. According to the AccuWeather Lightning Detection Network, the storm generated 234 lightning strikes in a period of 15 minutes. Margate Police and Margate Fire Rescue responded to the call for help at about 2:30 EDT. The first responders found two people lying on a sidewalk on NW 1st Street

The Margate Police Department said that the responding officers immediately began administering CPR to the victims. The mother, identified by law enforcement as Kenya Glasgow, was taken to North Broward Medical Center while her daughter was transported to Fort Lauderdale's Broward Health Medical Center. Both victims were pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the local hospitals.

It was a day of stormy weather for this part of South Florida. The Lightning Detection Network observed at least 120 lightning strikes within 10 miles of the scene of the tragedy between 2:15 and 2:45 pm EDT. Of the 120 strikes, 44 were noted as cloud-to-ground events. These types of strikes are most likely to cause serious injuries and property damage. The other bolts remained high in the clouds.

The bulk of the lightning activity fired up at about 2:30 pm. The closest strike to the sidewalk where the victims were found was recorded at 2:31 pm. The network observed a strike approximately 0.1 of a mile from the victims.