An Milton man died Friday morning after he was struck by lightning in a blueberry patch near Allentown.
James Donald McDaniel, 71, went into cardiac arrest and was transported to the Santa Rosa Medical Center Emergency Room in critical condition after he was struck by lightning at the Blue Basket Farms.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff's officers as well as Allentown Volunteer Fire Department personnel responded to the call at 9:42 a.m. at the blueberry farm located at 8651 State Road 89.
According to an incident report, an employee at the blueberry farm found McDaniel unresponsive in the blueberry patch and called 911. EMS attempted CPR as they transported McDaniel to the emergency room, but he was pronounced dead at 10:50 a.m.
A Santa Rosa County sheriff's deputy investigating the strike located the point of impact to just rows from where McDaniel's vehicle was parked.
"It's just bad luck, and very sad," said National Weather Service meteorologist David Eversole. "There were a cluster of thunderstorms over the area at the time, but they weren't anything we would consider unusual."
The National Weather Service in Mobile issued a hazardous weather outlook at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, warning of thunderstorms with the potential for "numerous cloud to ground lightning strikes."
The Weather Service warns that scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely through the weekend, and that frequent lightning strikes are expected.
McDaniel's death is the sixth by lightning strike in the U.S. this year, and the fourth in Florida, according to National Weather Service data.
The most recent strike occurred in Pompono Beach, killing 55-year-old Robert Elliott as he worked on the roofing of a car dealership.
In 2010, four airmen were injured at Hurlburt Field when lightning struck near their training vehicles during a navigation exercise.
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