A 15-year-old boy is recovering after being struck by lightning in a rare incident at Central Park during yesterday’s severe thunderstorm in Manhattan, as confirmed by the NYPD. According to Gothamist, the event took place around 3:45 p.m., near East Drive and East 100th Street at approximately 3:45 p.m.
Upon arrival, officers found the teen conscious and positioned against a mesh fence. Both the teen and a nearby tree had been struck by lightning. The storm moved through the city with significant rainfall, causing street flooding and uprooting trees in several areas. Injuries sustained by the young boy were centered on his neck, and he was quickly transported to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where his condition has been described as stable, while CBS News reports that he was taken to Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
The severe weather impacted multiple areas of the city, leading the First Alert Weather Team to declare a First Alert Weather Day due to the strength of the storms. According to eyewitness accounts and local reports, individuals moved through flooded streets during the downpour. The National Weather Service had issued severe thunderstorm warnings for much of the afternoon and evening. The lightning strike incident is being reported in the context of the risks that can be associated with such weather conditions.
While no weather-related fatalities have been reported, the city experienced several isolated power outages overnight. CBS News reported on the storm’s aftermath, including an incident where a tree landed on a resident’s vehicle and another involving flickering lights and a fallen tree branch. One resident, Konrad Turnbull, commented on the disruption to his work-from-home routine due to the power loss, stating, "It's going to be a few days. I guess we will have to work elsewhere."
Lightning strikes, while incredibly rare, pose a lethal threat with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention citing some 40 million lightning strikes hitting the ground in the United States each year, though a person's odds of getting struck are less than one in a million. The CDC further suggests that about 90% of individuals struck by lightning survive, providing a statistical context for the young boy’s recent encounter with the lightning strike.
