A 42-year-old Yellow Springs woman was killed by lightning Friday while hiking with her husband and friend in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Rebecca R. Teilhet, her husband, Justin, and a friend were near the Ute Crossing Trail at 1:20 p.m. on Trail Ridge Road at roughly 11,400 feet, between Rainbow Curve and Forest Canyon Overlook, according to a park news release.
Teilhet died at the scene; her husband and friend were taken to Estes Park Medical Center, where there conditions are not known. Share your condolences for Rebecca R. Teilhet.
Andrea Williams, a Tipp City resident who knows Teilhet through a pit bull rescue group, said she was shocked when she heard about her friend's death on Facebook.
"None of us could believe it," she said. "It was awful."
Five other people hiking nearby were also injured Friday, but they took themselves to the hospital.
About 26 hours later, lightning struck and killed another out-of-state visitor, a man who was not yet identified. Lightning struck shortly before 4 p.m. near Rainbow Curve, at 10,829 feet along Trail Ridge Road, injuring four hikers. All four were taken to Estes Park Medical Center, where one man was pronounced dead, according to the park news release.
The deaths of Teilhet and the unidentified man mark the first lightning-related deaths at Rocky Mountain National Park in 14 years. In 2000, a technical climber was struck on the Diamond on Longs Peak, according to information released by the park.
There have been nine other lightning-related fatalities this year, including four in Florida, according to the National Weather Service. The U.S. has averaged 51 reported lightning-related fatalities per year over a 30-year period starting in 1984, according to the NWS. About 10 percent of people struck by lightning are killed.
The odds of a person being struck by lightning during his or her lifetime is 1 in 12,000, according to the weather service.
