2 Women Injured After Lightning Strikes Tree In Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Two women were injured following a lightning strike in Highland Park Tuesday night. After leaving a Lyle Lovett concert at Ravinia Festival, a Chicago woman and a Winnetka woman were headed back to their car when they took shelter under a tree from a heavy downpour, authorities said.

Lightning struck a parkway tree in the 0-100 block of St. Johns Avenue, near the Braeside Metra station and the Glencoe border, injuring the pair but not hitting them directly, according to city officials.

The Highland Park Fire Department responded to the scene shortly after 10 p.m. Firefighters took the women, both 54 years old, to a local hospital with cuts and bruises, according to Hayley Garard, assistant to the city manager.

State Climatologist Jim Angel estimated eight people suffer serious injuries every year caused by lightning. For those caught outside in a severe thunderstorm, he recommended avoiding open spaces, water, high ground, electronics and plumbing.

No one has died in Illinois from a lightning strike since a 17-year-old girl was killed in a Downers Grove park in May 2014, according to data from the National Weather Service.