73-year-old Tallahassee man was struck by lightning, killed during March walk in park

Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat
·2 min read
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A 73-year-old man was struck by lightning and killed several months ago while walking with his wife at the J.R. Alford Greenway in Tallahassee.

The death of Michael Herbert Smith, a retired CSX engineer and father of two, was not publicly reported at the time. The Tallahassee Democrat confirmed it through public records, including autopsy and police reports.

Smith and his wife went for an afternoon walk in the greenway off Pedrick Road on March 3. Around 3:30 p.m., as they were heading back to their car and not far from the parking lot, Smith was struck by a bolt of lightning, according to a Tallahassee Police Department incident report.

Lightning streaks across the sky over campus during one of the final nights of summer.
Lightning streaks across the sky over campus during one of the final nights of summer.

“(His wife) was walking in front and then heard a loud bang and (saw) bright light come from behind her,” the report says. “When she turned around, she observed Michael fall over onto the ground.”

Two bystanders who saw what happened rushed to help, performing CPR on Smith. Leon County deputies arrived and used a defibrillator to try to revive him. He was taken by ambulance to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and pronounced dead a short time later.

A TPD homicide detective wrote there were no scorch or burn marks at the site of the lightning strike, but the bottom of his socks had been blown off by the lightning bolt.

The State Medical Examiner’s Office, noting evidence of a lightning strike, found the cause of death electrocution and the manner of death an accident.

The National Lightning Safety Council announced Monday that it had confirmed Smith’s death by lightning. The organization said it was one of two confirmed lightning deaths this year in the U.S. and the first in Florida. The Sunshine State leads the nation in lightning deaths, with 89 since 2006, the council said.

He also is among three Tallahassee residents killed this year in weather-related incidents. A 47-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl were killed in separate incidents involving falling trees in the May 10 tornado outbreak.

Smith graduated from Suwanee High School in Live Oak and Madison Junior College before moving to Tallahassee in 1974 and meeting his wife, according to his obituary. The couple traveled extensively through Europe and the Caribbean and had just returned from a birthday trip to the Grand Canyon and an Eagles concert.

"He retired 14 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed saying 'Every day is Saturday!' " his obituary said. "He enjoyed fishing, boating, hiking, FSU Football/Baseball, was a talented woodworker, and passionately loved his family."

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee man killed by lightning during walk at Alford Greenway