Two injured, one of them critical, after lightning strike at Naples Pier, police say

Two men were injured, one of them critically, when a lightning struck them while they were in the Gulf of Mexico waters near the Naples Pier , police say.

Lt. Bryan McGinn, spokesperson for Naples police , said the victims were identified as a 42-year-old man and a 24-year-old man. The strike occurred about 6 p.m. Sunday.

The 42-year-old man suffered nonlife-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital for further evaluation. The 24-year-old man sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital in critical condition, McGinn said.

More: Where does lightning strike the most in the US? This map breaks it down by county

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McGinn said police received a rescue call shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday in reference to the two individuals, who were in the gulf waters near the Naples Pier when the lightning strike occurred.

Out of an abundance of caution, following the lighting strike, officers closed the pier for the remainder of Saturday evening, McGinn said.

Although destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022, the Naples Pier site continues to draw visitors. The pier could face revival as late as 2025 with a cost of more than $26 million.

Florida ranks fourth in national lightning strikes

USA Today reports that the National Weather Service, revealed lightning caused 13 deaths in the U.S. in 2023. That was down from 19 in 2022. From 2006 through 2021, lightning strikes killed 444 people (about 28 per year) in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

Florida is one of the top states for lightning strikes. According to AccuWeather.com , on average, Florida has 3,500 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes per day and 1.2 million flashes per year occur.

Florida ranks behind Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

"Because of the dense population and the amount of people, more people are struck and killed by lightning in Florida than any other state, according to Vaisala and the National Weather Service ," AccuWeather reports. Vaisala provides data and devices to measure changes in the climate, according to its website.

In 2021, Walker Bethune, a Macon, Georgia, teen who was struck by lightning July 17 on a Marco Island beach, died days later, and Brent Jerome, 41, was killed at a Sanibel Island beach on July 24.

He was among at least four other people struck on Southwest Florida beaches within a 10-day span during the height of the state's rainy season that year, and one of 11 nationally that died from lightning strikes in the U.S.

USA Today and Naples Daily News archives contributed to this report.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran , Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews .

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Two injured, one of them critical, after lightning strike at Naples Pier, police say