CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A man was setting up a tent when he was reportedly hit by lightning south of the Padre Island National Seashore on Wednesday afternoon.
CCFD Asst. Fire Chief Billy Belyeu told 3NEWS the 27-year-old man was next to the tent, and when the lightning made contact with the tent pole, he was thrown by the electricity created by the impact.
He said entrance and exit wounds are commonly found on lightning-strike victims' bodies, but paramedics did not find any on the patient.
"It sounds like the lightning actually struck the tent that he was setting up on the beach," he said.
The man was driven to the PINS Visitors' Center by a private vehicle, where he was met by Corpus Christi Fire Department EMS and taken to a local hospital.
Kleberg County Sheriff Richard Kirkpatrick said the call came in at about 3:20 p.m.
He was conscious and breathing and in severe pain, Kirkpatrick said.
A cold front blew into South Texas on Wednesday afternoon, and lightning could be seen on radar about 30 miles south of the PINS entrance.
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