South Carolina, 2019

Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 4, 2019

July 4, 2019 · NWS ILM · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck some people at the Lawshe Plantation.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
12
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.

Lightning struck some people at the Lawshe Plantation.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 12:21 PM EST, 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 12:21 PM EST, 49 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 4, 10:48 AM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 12:53 PM EST, 17 minutes before
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The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Georgetown

When
July 4, 1:10 PM EST
Where
Georgetown County, 1.86 mi ENE of Olin
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
12 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
33.430, -79.440

Lightning struck a tree at Lawshe Plantation where a group of people were huddled under it. Twelve were injured, and one person later died at the hospital.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Lightning, Georgetown2019-07-0444MaleUnder TreeDirect

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, July 2019

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 845845.