Police officer struck by lightning as he put up barricade on flooded Alabama street

A police officer guarding a flooded intersection was hit by lightning Thursday in Alabama.

It happened around 3:30 p.m. in Florence, about 120 miles northwest of Birmingham, as a deadly storm front crossed the state.

Officer James Piteo was conscious when taken to a nearby hospital, the Florence Police Department said in a Facebook post.

He was struck “while putting out barricades” at an intersection in the central part of the city, police officials said.

“A ranger riding with Officer Piteo and other officers were able to provide immediate first aid,” the department said.

“Officer Piteo was then placed in the backseat of a police vehicle with a paramedic and rushed to NAMC (North Alabama Medical Center) where he received medical treatment. Officer Piteo is still sore but, doing good.”

Piteo suffered “some burns,” Police Chief Ron Tyler told WHNT.

A severe storm front crossed the Deep South on Thursday, spawning eight tornadoes in Alabama and leaving at least five people dead, the Associated Press reports.

Videographer Will Corey was filming at the intersection where the police officer was hurt. He tweeted a video that shows the officer’s patrol car was parked at the edge of a flooded intersection when a bolt of lightning flashed nearby.

Lightning “can reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun and contain 100 million volts of electricity,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Seventeen people were killed by lightning strikes in the United States last year, NOAA reports.

This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 6:25 AM with the headline "Police officer struck by lightning as he put up barricade on flooded Alabama street."