OCEAN CITY, Md.- Members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol say lightning struck a guard stand early Wednesday afternoon. Both the beach and the stands had been cleared prior to the storm rolling through.
One beachgoer said she saw lightning strike the stand from a condo.
"As soon as the beach was cleared, the storm was coming through," Janice Bergold said. "This bolt of lightning came straight down. Now I understand why lifeguards get everybody off the beach immediately."
OCBP Captain Butch Arbin said this is the first time he can recall a stand being struck by lightning. He said he hopes more people will pay attention in the future when lifeguards try to clear the beach.
"If anybody had been on the beach around that, somebody would have been seriously injured, if not killed," Arbin said. "If the lifeguard had been in the stand, I don't think there's any question of what would have happened."
