Lightning strikes killed three people outside the White House in Washington recently James Mueller and Donna Mueller of Janesville, Wisc., both in their 70s, succumbed to their injuries after the strike in Lafayette Park on Thursday, a DC Metro Police spokesman told Fox News Digital on Friday. The third victim was a 29-year-old bank executive from Los Angeles, California, Brooks Lambertson. He was vice president of City National Bank, according to the LA Times. People are advised to take smart lightning precautions before, during and after storms to protect themselves. LIGHTNING SAFETY: WHAT TO DO, HOW TO KEEP SAFE “We are sorry for the tragic loss of life following the lightning strike in Lafayette Park,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said in a statement late last week. “Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones.” Also, a 22-year-old Boston man died of cardiac arrest after being struck by lightning in Wyoming on Aug. 2 while backpacking during an expedition in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Fox 25 reported this weekend. Lightning can strike anywhere on Earth, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains on its website. Video shows the moment lightning strikes a truck in Tampa, Florida, in early July 2022. (Michaelle May Whalen via Storyful) “There are about 6,000 lightning strikes every minute, or more than 8 million strikes every day,” says the CDC. “You can protect yourself and your loved ones if you know what to do when you see lightning or hear thunder as a warning.” “From 2006 to 2021, lightning caused an average of 28 deaths per year in the United States.” He adds, “The risk of being struck by lightning is low, but the consequences of lightning injuries are serious.” “From 2006 to 2021, lightning caused an average of 28 deaths per year in the United States.”

“I was taking clothes out of the dryer”

Linda Venuto-Deal of Burlington County, NJ, came close to being seriously or fatally injured by lightning — and she described her terrifying experience to Fox News Digital in a phone interview this weekend. She wasn’t out at the time — she was inside her house, in the basement, when it happened. The CDC says about one-third of lightning injuries occur indoors. A lightning bolt struck her home’s grounding pipe while she was inside, she said, on Aug. 23, 1993. LIGHTNING STRIKES RAM PICKUP IN FLORIDA — HERE’S WHY THE PASSENGERS SURVIVED She remembers the exact date of the strike that sent her to the emergency room and left scars because she kept detailed notes of what happened. “I was doing the laundry,” she said. The family had just returned from a trip to an amusement park. He had two loads of washing in progress, he said. Linda Venuto-Deal of New Jersey described her encounter with lightning when she was inside her home doing laundry.
“And I was taking clothes out of the dryer and I reached in, grabbing my daughter’s green T-shirt,” Venuto-Deal said. “I was taking off my clothes when at that moment the lightning struck.” She said the lightning – after striking a grounding pipe outside her home – traveled into her basement and arced into the dryer. “It got into my pinky finger and my left hand,” she said. “Pretty amazing, I know,” he said, recounting the experience. She circled the burn mark on her basement floor to know exactly where the lightning struck. He said the lightning “went up my arm, my face, down my body and my left leg – and out my leg.” “It hit the floor like a giant check mark,” he said, describing the sound of lightning he still remembers, “and then it went into the wall. And that’s when it disintegrated,” he added. SERIES OF LIGHTNINGS IN INDIA KILLED 20 PEOPLE She circled the burn mark on her basement floor to know exactly where it hit, she said. “I had it there for years and years until I finally painted the basement,” he said. After all these years, “I still have the scar on my leg,” she said. The strangest thing is that “I heard that distant one scream.” He described the strike as dry lightning – it wasn’t raining outside at the time it happened. The strangest thing for her is that “I heard this distant scream,” she said. She immediately thought of her daughter upstairs in the kitchen—and wondered frantically if she was okay. “But it was actually my voice,” she said, screaming. “It was so disconnected from me that it sounded like it was coming from outside my house.” Thunder, lightning and rain during a summer storm. Linda Venuto-Deal said she was not wearing shoes when she was struck by lightning. (iStock) She said lightning that day killed one of her trees outside — and “blew out the appliances in the house. It broke all the arches in my house.” He added: “The only reason the doctor said it didn’t kill me was because I wasn’t wearing shoes at the time – and it had a socket.” “I was barefoot and my foot came out. It didn’t stay in my body.” “I was numb and both of my fingers were kind of purple for a while.” He got to the hospital — “I went to the ER and by then it was raining,” he said, describing that unforgettable night. “I was numb and both of my fingers were kind of purple for a while,” she said. “And the side of my face was numb, on that left side.” NORTH CAROLINA HOME RUN AWAY FROM LIGHTNING: REPORTS She said she also had a “tingling” in her face and arm, which “lasted for a few days”. She said that at the hospital, the doctors examined her thoroughly. Her blood pressure and temperature were taken, he said. He was not kept overnight in the hospital. she was sent home later that day, she said.

“Developed high blood pressure”

“The funny thing is,” added the New Jersey resident, “that right after that, I developed high blood pressure, at age 40.” He said of this development: “I always thought, ‘I’m only 40 years old.’ He said he has since been treated for high blood pressure. “I’ve survived almost everything.” “Also interestingly, I developed breast cancer on that side five years later,” she said. “I have no science to back me up. Just what I think.” She added that her hair stood up as a result of the lightning – and she had “amazingly long hair” at that point, down to her feet, she said. The hairs on her arms also “grew” she said. Lightning illuminates the sky over Lower Manhattan as a bolt strikes One World Trade Center on August 22, 2017, as seen from Hoboken, NJ (FOX News/Gary Hershorn) This was her only experience with lightning – “Thank God,” she said. “I’ve survived almost everything,” he added. There is no “safe place outside” when there are thunderstorms in your area, according to the National Weather Service. Oren N. Gottfried, MD, professor of neurosurgery at Duke School of Medicine in the Department of Neurosurgery and director of the Neurosciences Clinical Specialty Unit at Duke University School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital in an email Sunday: “When someone is struck by lightning, they need immediate medical attention. If more than one person is injured, treat or attend to any unconscious victims first.” Dr Gottfeld added: “The most significant injuries are cardiac arrest or severe neurological injury.” He also said, “Some people struck by lightning may appear dead, with no pulse or detectable breathing, but will still have a reasonable chance of survival.” “It is important to recognize that people may initially appear much sicker than they are, and prompt, aggressive care greatly improves survival rates.” “If the victim is unconscious and not breathing well or at all or has no pulse, call 911 and begin standard CPR immediately,” said Dr. Oren Gottfried of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, NC (iStock). Dr. Gottfeld further noted, “It is safe to touch and care for the person as the body is not holding a charge.” “If the victim is unconscious and not breathing well or at all or has no pulse, call 911 and begin standard CPR immediately. It is necessary to continue CPR for long periods for an otherwise healthy person struck by lightning, as many victims can survive.” Dr. Marc Siegel, a physician and professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York and a Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital that according to the CDC, the states of Florida, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania had most lightning. After a lightning strike, “thermal burns, breathing problems, confusion, irregular heartbeat, and cardiac arrest can all occur.” Florida has had 2,000 in the past 50 years, he said. After a lightning strike, “thermal burns, breathing problems, confusion, irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest can all occur,” Dr. Siegel said. He also said that “personality changes, seizures, dizziness, muscle aches, loss of consciousness and coma may occur.” LIGHTNING IN CALIFORNIA KILLS WOMAN AND HER TWO DOGS It is “necessary to treat burns, sometimes with surgical debridement,” he said. Also, “immediate immobilization and CPR when needed saves lives,” he added. Here are some important additional details about lightning — including safety tips.

What are the odds of getting struck by lightning?

The chance that a person in the US will be struck by lightning during a given year is one in 1.2 million, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The odds of being struck in your lifetime (estimated to be 80 years) are 1 in 15,300.

Is there a safe place outside if lightning strikes?

There is no “safe place…