Lightning kills man in Pasco

The bolt shot down a metal rod the construction worker held. "He never even had a chance,'' an observer said.

By BRADY DENNIS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 27, 2001

A construction crew was wrapping up for the day Thursday when a lightning bolt shot down from a black cloud and struck an aluminum rod held by one of the men.

Moments later, 42-year-old Donald Helton was dead.

"He never even had a chance," said John Yodice, the owner of Yodice Excavating in Dade City. "I was right here watching it, I saw it happen."

Helton, who investigators say recently moved to the Ocala area, was part of a crew grading a private road near Darby Road, 2 miles east of Bellamy Brothers Boulevard in central Pasco County.

The crew was finishing up about 5:30 p.m. as severe storms swept through the Tampa Bay area. Yodice said Helton and the others insisted on tying up some loose ends before calling it quits for the day.

As Helton walked through the green pasture, down the middle of the unpaved road, disaster struck.

Yodice remembered Helton, who he said had worked for him a couple of years, as upbeat and a solid employee.

"He was a good guy," Yodice said. "He worked hard. He did a good job. He was a good person."

About 7 p.m., with lightning still flashing in the distance, family members arrived at the scene. A man identified as Helton's father wept aloud as family members talked with sheriff's deputies.

They declined to comment.

National Weather Service officials said the area where Helton was killed was ripe with storms Thursday afternoon.

Radar estimates show the area got 2 to 3 inches of rain, along with scores of lightning strikes.

"We probably had in some instances over 150 strikes in a 15-minute time frame over that area," said NWS forecaster Barry Goldsmith.

"There was a frequent to excessive presence of lightning in a short time."

Thursday's incident was one of several cases of lightning strikes this summer, including a June 24 case in which a couple leaving services at a Tampa church were knocked down and treated at a hospital. On July 4, seven people were injured by a lightning bolt in Apollo Beach.

During the past 30 years, lightning strikes nationwide have killed an average of 73 people a year. That is more than tornadoes or hurricanes.

Last year, 51 people around the country were killed by lightning, compared with 37 flood casualties and 29 tornado deaths.

Florida leads the nation in strikes and lightning-related deaths.

Ninety percent of victims survive, but they usually face years of difficult physical therapy.

-- Information from Times files was used in this report.

Lightning safety tips

Avoid water, high ground and open spaces.

Avoid all metal objects: electric wires, fences machinery, motors, power tools.

Find shelter in a substantial building or in a fully enclosed vehicle with the windows shut. Canopies, small picnic shelters and trees are unsafe choices for shelter.

Indoors, stay away from doors and windows. Do not use the telephone. Stay away from appliances, computers and television sets.

- Source: National Lightning Safety Institute

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