20 people injured in lightning strike while swimming at South Carolina beach
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(LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C.) — Twenty people were injured by a reported lightning strike while swimming at a beach in South Carolina, officials said.
The incident occurred at approximately 5 p.m. on Tuesday, when multiple agencies responded to a “reported electrocution” due to lightning at Dominion Beach Park near the Lake Murray Dam in Lexington County, South Carolina, officials said in a press release.
When first responders arrived on the scene, 20 patients — eight adults and 12 juveniles — had been injured by the strike, officials said.
Eighteen of those individuals were treated at the scene, while 12 were sent to three local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Vanessa Diaz, the public information officer for Lexington County, told ABC News in a statement.
All of the patients are expected to recover, officials said.
When the strike occurred, it was a “bright and sunny day” at the lake, but then a bolt of lightning hit the water and “energized a metal cable with buoys on it that surrounds the swimming area,” the Irmo Fire District said in a statement.
“Lightning can strike far away from a cloud. It doesn’t seem logical but a few hundred of us are believers today,” the fire district said.
Several people had swam out to the buoys and were holding the cable when the lightning hit, with others nearby in the water, the fire district said.
“Everybody got quite a jolt, we’re so fortunate that injuries were not worse than they were,” the fire district said.
Dominion Beach Park is expected to reopen on Wednesday “following safety assessments and clearance from authorities,” Lexington County officials said.
This week is Lightning Safety Awareness Week, which began in 2001 “in order to call attention to lightning being an underrated killer,” according to the National Weather Service. So far this year, there have been four reported deaths from lightning strikes in the U.S., according to the National Lightning Safety Council.
(NEW YORK)– The death toll has climbed to seven in the wake of heavy rains and devastating flash flooding in West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said on Tuesday, as he warned the threat isn’t over.
“Flood watches continue throughout West Virginia,” Morrisey said on social media. “With the ground already saturated, there is the possibility of further flash flooding. Please continue to heed local warnings and do not attempt to drive through high waters.”
Two people remain missing as of Tuesday, the governor’s office said.
A state of emergency is in effect and the West Virginia National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are on the ground in Marion County, the governor said.
Flash flooding struck Ohio County in the northern part of the state on Saturday night, dumping about 3 to 4 inches of rain over a short time period, according to the governor’s office.
The flash flooding continued on Sunday in Marion County, dropping 3 inches of rain in the city of Fairmont over a short time period, state officials said.
On Sunday, a residential building in Fairmont partially collapsed.
Footage from the scene showed water rushing out of the severely damaged structure as emergency crews responded to the scene.
Displaced residents are being housed at Fairmont State University, officials said.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — A now-suspended Florida sheriff accused of helping expand and protect an illegal gambling operation was granted $1 million bond on Friday.
Marcos Lopez, 56, was arrested and charged Thursday with racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, both first-degree felonies, in connection with what prosecutors called a “massive” illegal gambling operation in Central Florida, including Lake and Osceola counties.
The operation generated more than $21.6 million in illicit proceeds, according to the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
Lopez, who was first elected to serve as the sheriff of Osceola County in 2020, allegedly took campaign contributions and personal payments from the operation before going on to play a “multifaceted role in expanding and protecting this illegal enterprise, using his office to shield the enterprise from law enforcement,” the office said.
The charging document alleges Lopez and others charged in the case committed money laundering, operated a gambling house in Kissimmee and illegally possessed slot machines. Lopez is also accused, in his capacity as sheriff of Osceola County, of receiving “unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior” and using confidential information with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation, according to the document.
The allegations in a 255-page affidavit detail an “extreme breach of public trust,” prosecutor Panagiota Papakos said during Lopez’s first court appearance on Friday.
Text messages between Lopez and his alleged co-conspirators dating back to 2019 show his alleged involvement in the illegal enterprise, including sourcing new locations and screenshots of slot machines, according to Papakos. Lopez allegedly used his influence as sheriff to “facilitate this illegal enterprise” and “potentially obstruct criminal investigation into these businesses in Osceola County,” she said.
Since 2020, he allegedly obtained $600,000 to $700,000 in cash payments from the illegal enterprise, Papakos said.
The state requested $600,000 bond for each count, for a total of $1.2 million, citing in part the seriousness of the alleged offenses.
Lopez’s defense attorney argued that such a bond would be very high for the nature of the crime and “tantamount to no bond,” given what his family could afford. She asked for $25,000 bond for each count, for a total of $50,000, citing his lack of criminal history, “extreme ties” to the community and the non-dangerous nature of the offenses. She also asked that the court not treat Lopez any differently, merely because of his title, and still look at him “as a regular individual.”
Judge Emily Curington ultimately set his bond at $500,000 for each count, with conditions including that he undergo GPS monitoring and surrender his passport should he post bond. She also asked that the source of the funds be shown to the state, after Papakos expressed concerns about them coming from “any illegal enterprise or illegal proceeds.”
During the hearing, Lopez asked the judge how he would start the bond process. He currently remains in custody, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s website.
His next court date has been scheduled for June 30. He has yet to enter a plea.
BREAKING! Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez was arrested by @HSITampa following an investigation into a criminal organization operating an illegal gambling enterprise throughout Central Florida, particularly in Lake and Osceola Counties, which generated $21.6+ million in… pic.twitter.com/hVazzAo5Ba
The investigation remains ongoing, and other charges may be announced at a later date, the Florida Attorney General’s Office said.
“This is a solemn day for Florida and our law enforcement community. We put great trust in our constitutional officers, especially those who are our communities’ first line of defense,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement on Thursday. “However, the law must be applied equally, regardless of position, power, or branch of government. Public servants should never exploit the public’s trust for personal gain.”
Lopez has been suspended per an executive order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. Christopher Blackmon, the Central Region chief for the Florida Highway Patrol, was appointed as the Osceola County sheriff, according to DeSantis’ order.
(NORTH RIM, Ariz.) — The Grand Canyon Lodge was one of dozens of structures destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona over the weekend, the National Park Service (NPS) confirmed.
The lodge, which sits on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, first opened in 1937 and is listed as a National Historic Landmark. It is the only in-park lodging option in that region of the park.
The fire, dubbed by officials as the Dragon Bravo Fire, had scorched over 5,000 acres as of Sunday morning and is being fueled by extreme summer heat, low humidity and strong winds.
A second fire, the White Sage Fire, is also threatening the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, according to NPS.
The lodge is one of approximately 50 to 80 structures that have been lost, including the National Park Service’s administrative building and visitor facilities.
NPS officials said aerial bucket drops were conducted to slow fire movement near the lodge; however, a chlorine gas leak at the nearby water treatment facility prompted the evacuation of firefighting personnel from critical zones.
Chlorine gas can quickly settle into lower elevations such as the inner canyon, posing a health risk, officials added.
No deaths or injuries have been reported in the fire, and all staff and residents were successfully evacuated before the fire’s escalation, NPS officials said.
The North Rim will remain closed to all visitor access for the remainder of the 2025 season, according to NPS.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs released a statement on Sunday, saying she’s “incredibly saddened by the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.”
“As someone who was born and raised in Arizona, I know what the Grand Canyon National Park means to so many people, not just in Arizona, but all over the world, and how devastating it is to see this damage done to one of Arizona’s most cherished landmarks,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs also called for “scrutiny” into the federal government’s emergency response to the wildfire. “They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage,” Hobbs said.
