Severe Weather Sweeps Through Oklahoma

Friday, August 24th 2007, 8:32 pm

By: News On 6

Severe weather lights up the evening sky across Green Country. It split trees, ignited power lines and emergency officials say it could have led to at least one man being rushed to the hospital. Weather experts call lightning one of nature's deadliest hazards. The News On 6â€™s Ashli Sims reports for one Tulsa man it was definitely too close for comfort.

Bolts of lightning streaked across the gray skies over Green Country. It's pretty typical for summer storms in Oklahoma, but it takes an accident to remind you just how dangerous lightning can be.

â€œA worker for KMS was working on our air conditioning and he was putting his ladder back in his truck, and he was on a metal step ladder, and lightning struck him and knocked him to the ground," eyewitness Everett Bennett said.

Friday, just before 5 p.m., firefighters and emergency workers responded to a law office near 17th and Southwest Boulevard.

â€œAll of our power went out in the building for just a second, and then we heard he was on the ground out here. By then he was sitting in his truck, but obviously injured," said Bennett.

EMSA says the man did not take a direct hit, but he was taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, lightning snapped several power lines around town causing a few small fires. But there were no major injuries or power outages reported.

The National Weather Service reports an average of 62 people are killed every year by lightning, hundreds are injured.

For more information on lightning, including safety tips and myths, click here.

Watch the video: Summer Storm Sweeps Through Green Country