Hit By Lightning

For the 12th time during this sweltering summer, temperatures topped the century mark in downtown Baltimore yesterday, hitting a high of 103 and breaking a 17-year-old record.The record for the day was broken at 1:25 p.m., when the temperature at the Custom House hit 102 degrees. But the heat wasn't done yet, topping off at 103 at 3:55 p.m.The old record was 101 in 1976.The heat also was partly to blame for a thunderstorm that moved through Baltimore and Carrol counties, causing numerous lightning strikes.

It's the lightning season again. Bolts from the sky kill more than 50 Americans each year, on average. Nine have died so far in 2009. Most are young males, and a third are struck at work. Ninety percent of those hit by lightning survive, but often with chronic pain, brain injury and thought-processing problems. Hear thunder? Go inside. Stay off (and unplug) hard-wired computers, phones or games.

A 15-year-old Cecil County boy was in stable condition at Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Burn Center yesterday with injuries to his legs, groin and back received when lightning struck him as he rested on a swing in his grandparents' yard Wednesday.James Ashford had been rocking in a wooden swing about 5:30 p.m. in the 100 block of Jackson Station Road in Perryville when lightning hit the tree supporting the swing.The bolt traveled through the tree's branches, hit a metal chain supporting the swing, splintered the seat and hit the boy's legs, said Charles Gardner, chief of the Perryville Volunteer Fire Department.

Even when your boat sustains a direct hit by lightning, it's unlikely anybody on board will get hurt, according to research done by Chuck Fort, an associate editor at a newsletter put out by BoatU.S. Marine Insurance. After reviewing 998 lightning-related claims submitted to the insurance company in the past five years, Fort found that nobody had died and only "a handful" of people had been seriously hurt when lightning damaged their boats. "The people who are injured are in open boats - runabouts and bass boats," Fort said.

It's the lightning season again. Bolts from the sky kill more than 50 Americans each year, on average. Nine have died so far in 2009. Most are young males, and a third are struck at work. Ninety percent of those hit by lightning survive, but often with chronic pain, brain injury and thought-processing problems. Hear thunder? Go inside. Stay off (and unplug) hard-wired computers, phones or games.

Thirty-one Parkville residents were driven from their apartments early today when lightning struck the roof of the Ridge Garden apartments in the 2900 block of Conroy Court shortly after midnight.Lightning also was blamed for a fire early today in a Cockeysville antiques shop owned by Rep. Helen Delich Bentley, R-2nd, and her husband, William Bentley.The Parkville fire displaced residents in 22 apartments, Baltimore County police said. No injuries were reported. The apartments were condemned due to fire, smoke and water damage.

A violent storm that swept through Maryland last night dropped temperatures, dumped an inch of rain in some places, knocked out power to thousands of homes and cut off WBAL Radio's broadcast of the Orioles game when lightning struck a transmission tower. The storm arrived with a front of cool air that moved into Maryland from the Midwest, pushing hot humid air that sent temperatures and humidity soaring yesterday afternoon, said Andy Woodcock, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

A storm that came out of the Ohio Valley hit parts of Central Maryland and the city last night and early today with drenching rains, spectacular displays of lightning and winds strong enough to topple trees and disrupt electrical service.Two building fires overnight, in Parkville and Cockeysville, were blamed on lightning strikes.Peggy Mulloy, a spokesman for the Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., said the storm caused outages to 52,000 customers in Carroll, Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties.

Ken Kalp was headed for the kitchen to get a cup of coffee when lightning punched a hole in his roof and set his attic on fire.Mr. Kalp, 55, who lives in the 5300 block of Wertz Road, near Millers, said he heard thunder from one of a series of storms that rolled through Carroll County yesterday afternoon and early evening. Then he heard a terrific crash upstairs. The lights went out.He went to the fuse box, saw smoke and knew this was more than the average power outage. The phone was dead, too, he discovered.

Even when your boat sustains a direct hit by lightning, it's unlikely anybody on board will get hurt, according to research done by Chuck Fort, an associate editor at a newsletter put out by BoatU.S. Marine Insurance. After reviewing 998 lightning-related claims submitted to the insurance company in the past five years, Fort found that nobody had died and only "a handful" of people had been seriously hurt when lightning damaged their boats. "The people who are injured are in open boats - runabouts and bass boats," Fort said.

With their main sanctuary still off-limits yesterday - waterlogged and scarred by fire and smoke - members of Northwest Baptist Church crammed into a too-small space in their fellowship center and prayed. The room was sparse - with white folding chairs instead of pews, no organ, and small TV monitors in place of the giant screen used by the high-tech congregation to broadcast words of worship and song. But none of that seemed to faze those who came to the Reisterstown church to listen and sing and praise the good timing and small miracles they believed saved the church from burning to the ground after its steeple was struck by lightning Wednesday.

A violent storm that swept through Maryland last night dropped temperatures, dumped an inch of rain in some places, knocked out power to thousands of homes and cut off WBAL Radio's broadcast of the Orioles game when lightning struck a transmission tower. The storm arrived with a front of cool air that moved into Maryland from the Midwest, pushing hot humid air that sent temperatures and humidity soaring yesterday afternoon, said Andy Woodcock, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the past two months, an insidious intruder has repeatedly entered Tom and Patty Williams' home in rural East Bradford, Chester County, Pa., ruining two answering machines, their water heater control panel and their well pump.Despite the expense (easily $1,000) and inconvenience (no hot water was tough, but no water at all was awful), Tom Williams tried to look at the bright side: Their annual $500 insurance deductible is out of the way, so the next loss should be completely covered.

A barn and an old vacant schoolhouse were set ablaze by lightning Friday night as a fierce storm moved across Carroll County.The storm also knocked out power to nearly 9,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric and Potomac Edison customers in Carroll.Firefighters from Gamber, Westminster and Winfield were dispatched to the 2700 block of Old Washington Road at 12:34 a.m. and discovered that lightning had hit a wooden barn, causing the roof and hay in the barn to burn. The firefighters remained at the scene for 90 minutes.

A NOTED etiquette expert spoke recently on the demise of American manners. According to her, we eat too fast, we don't write thank-you notes, we interrupt too often in conversation. Then, as an example of where we've really gone awry, the expert said, "And it's rude to pass a stranger on the street and not acknowledge that person with a smile and a hello. I wondered in which parallel universe she had been spending the past decade, how she could have missed the fact that strangers have become the enemy.

Ken Kalp was headed for the kitchen to get a cup of coffee when lightning punched a hole in his roof and set his attic on fire.Mr. Kalp, 55, who lives in the 5300 block of Wertz Road, near Millers, said he heard thunder from one of a series of storms that rolled through Carroll County yesterday afternoon and early evening. Then he heard a terrific crash upstairs. The lights went out.He went to the fuse box, saw smoke and knew this was more than the average power outage. The phone was dead, too, he discovered.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the past two months, an insidious intruder has repeatedly entered Tom and Patty Williams' home in rural East Bradford, Chester County, Pa., ruining two answering machines, their water heater control panel and their well pump.Despite the expense (easily $1,000) and inconvenience (no hot water was tough, but no water at all was awful), Tom Williams tried to look at the bright side: Their annual $500 insurance deductible is out of the way, so the next loss should be completely covered.

A bolt of lightning struck and killed a South Baltimore man during yesterday afternoon's wind-whipped rainstorm, which had torn the roof off an East Baltimore house less than an hour earlier, officials said.The storm dumped 1.2 inches of rain at Baltimore-Washington International Airport from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., caused traffic accidents statewide and stripped 19,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers of power, according to officials. About 1,200 remained without power last night.