Two hunters and their looking canines had been discovered lifeless close to the water in Highlands County, Florida on Wednesday afternoon. An preliminary investigation confirmed that each males and their two canines died from an obvious lightning strike someday after 8 p.m. on Monday, in response to a press release issued Thursday by the Highlands County Sheriff’s Workplace.
The 2 males, recognized by the HCSO as 38-year-old Alexander Karl Getz and 31-year-old Peter James Kaminsky, had been each from Miami. HCSO says officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Fee had been trying to find the 2 males after they did not return dwelling from looking. It’s unclear how lengthy that they had been lacking for.
FWC officers discovered the our bodies on a levee subsequent to Canal C-41A within the space of Rucks Dairy Street, in response to the assertion from the sheriff’s workplace. It’s one in every of many canals situated off the Kissimmee River close to the place the river dumps into Lake Okeechobee.
HCSO says that whereas the preliminary investigation indicated a lightning strike, a health worker continues to be working to find out the official trigger and time of demise.
Though neither company has supplied further particulars in regards to the two males and their canines, they had been probably looking or scouting for geese alongside the canal when a thunderstorm rolled in. Florida’s early teal season opened Saturday and ran via Wednesday. Previous climate knowledge for Okeechobee reveals {that a} heavy thunderstorm moved into the world someday round 8 p.m. Monday, bringing rain and lightning that continued till after 10 pm.
“Our space will get extra lightning than simply about wherever else within the nation, particularly in the summertime. When you can hear thunder, meaning lightning is shut sufficient to strike, even when the sky doesn’t look too unhealthy but,” HCSO Sheriff Paul Blackman stated Thursday. “It’s important to concentrate and plan forward when storms strategy.”
Learn Subsequent: Lightning Strike Killed the Two Lacking Elk Hunters in Colorado, Coroner Says
The timing of the deadly lightning strike in Florida is unsettling for some within the outdoor neighborhood, who’re nonetheless mourning the lack of two younger males who had been killed by lightning whereas elk looking in Colorado earlier this month. The coroner who examined the our bodies in that case stated the 2 males weren’t struck immediately by lightning, however had been shut sufficient to the strike to be electrocuted nonetheless.
These deaths have additionally been tragic reminders of the hazard of lighting, which is a threat for outdoorsmen all throughout the nation — from the marshes to the mountains. In mild of the incident in Colorado, search-and-rescue specialists have re-shared recommendation about how you can handle this threat in case you are unable to hunt shelter indoors or in a automotive with a tough roof.
“Don’t stand beneath timber, in open fields or go close to our bodies of water,” the HCSO advises, “as these spots are lightning magnets.”Â
