Florida has long been regarded as the nation’s lightning capital. This summer is again proving why.
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A lightning strike Tuesday in Celebration killed Matthew Eric Jenkins, 20, who moved to Central Florida from Michigan about a week ago to begin a work program at Walt Disney World, Osceola County sheriff’s spokesperson Capt. Kim Montes said.
Jenkins’ death, the sixth blamed on lightning in Florida this year, followed a near fatal strike Sept. 2 that critically injured Aaron and Clare Walenga as the married couple hurried hand-in-hand along the West Orange Trail to escape an approaching storm.
They were on the trail after a date-night dinner while their children ages 15, 13 and 11, were at church group.
“It’s a miracle, an absolute miracle,” said Aaron Walenga, 48, a retired Air Force colonel and now a teacher who also coaches golf and lacrosse at Foundation Academy, a private Christian school in Winter Garden. “God spared our lives.”
On Aug. 23, in the South Florida city of Margate, Kenya Glasgow, 31, and one of her 2-year-old twin daughters, Kennedi Glasgow, were struck and killed as they hurried to get from a car to a relative’s home during a storm.
Six days later, Steve Matheson, a husband and father of four visiting from Utah, was jet skiing in the Gulf waters off St. Petersburg when he was fatally struck.
Jenkins was dressed in work out clothes when found about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on a walking path behind a hotel in Celebration.
Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany determined the cause of death to be electrocution by lightning strike.
According to the National Lightning Safety Council, which tracks fatal strikes, 15 people have died nationwide this year.
Florida, with six, has recorded the most lightning deaths.
Wisconsin has reported two; and one each was recorded in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Utah and Virginia. People were fatally hit while hiking, kayaking, riding a Jet Ski, sitting on the beach, swimming, trimming trees and walking to their car, according to an incident chart on the National Lightning Safety Council website.
Among the deaths was an 8-year-old girl hit July 3 while playing in her back yard in a small town in Illinois.
Since 2016, Florida has recorded 57 deaths due to lightning, more than double than Texas, which has recorded 21 deaths, the second-most in the nation.
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According to the safety council, “NO place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area.”
It also warns that lightning can strike outward 10 miles from a storm.
“If you hear any thunder, even a distant rumble, you are likely within striking distance of the storm,” the site says.
Among other advice the site suggests: Monitor weather conditions via radar or a lightning app; keep a watchful eye on the sky; listen for thunder; and head quickly to a safe place at the first signs of a developing or approaching thunderstorm.
Aaron Walenga said neither he nor his wife, who works in admissions at Foundations Academy, remember the actual strike. Clare fell and hit her head “really hard,” he said. “I fell forward and then braced my fall with my face, I guess.”
Photos of him in the hospital show injuries to his forehead, nose, cheeks and chin.
“I have memories of lying on the ground, not being able to move, trying to get up but I couldn’t,” Aaron Walenga recalled. “I was trying to talk but words weren’t coming out of my mouth. I remember voices telling me help was on the way.”
As a coach of sports played outside, Walenga has WeatherBug, a storm-tracking app, on his smart phone.
“The storm did pop up,” he said, as they were walking.
When it did, they turned around and headed back to Winter Garden, where they had parked.
The app put lightning about six miles away over Lake Apopka, but it looked as if they were walking into the storm.
Then the app warned lightning was suddenly four miles away.
“We unfortunately were on a part of the trail that didn’t really have any options for us,” he said. “Just walk fast.”
Walenga said “good Samaritans” — walkers and runners — also caught in the storm performed CPR on his wife.
“They kept her alive,” he said.
In the ambulance, Walenga said his spiritual training got him thinking.
“When I didn’t know if I was going to make it, I was overwhelmed with joy believing I might be going to heaven that night,” Walenga said. “But then it turned out a different way. God wasn’t done with us yet. The paramedic told me I was going to make it. I thought, ‘All right. I guess I have to buckle up and see how he uses us for his glory’.”