Lightning Claims 5 Lives In A Week

WASHINGTON — Five young lives have been ended by lightning in less than a week, a deadly reminder of one of summer's leading hazards. "Typically, July marks the peak in lightning activity. It's also the time when people are vacationing, so they are outside and they are vulnerable to lightning," said John Jensenius, a lightning safety expert at the National Weather Service. But why so many young people in a few days? "I don't have an answer for that," Jensenius said, "It's all very sad." Landon Dillard, 16, of Macon, Ga., was riding a bicycle at a summer camp in Colorado when he was struck down on July 3. Two days later, 19-year-old Korey Moore of Swansea, S.C., was riding a personal watercraft when hit. The next day lightning claimed Stephanie Dawn Kirpes, 23, of Woodbridge, Va., while she was jogging along the shore in... [read full story]