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A Florida father said he was just steps away from his wife and one of his 2-year-old twin daughters when a lightning strike killed them after the family arrived at a relative’s home over the weekend.
Kenya Glasgow, 31, and her daughter, Kennedi Rose Glasgow, were struck by lightning at about 2:30 p.m. local time on Aug. 23 in Margate, a city in the Miami metropolitan area, according to the Margate Police Department. The mother and daughter were transported to separate hospitals, where both were pronounced dead.
Kameron Glasgow told reporters on Aug. 24 that his family had just arrived at a relative’s home when his wife and daughter were struck by lightning in the driveway. He said Kennedi’s twin sister was still inside the car.
“I got the actual aftershock from the ground. By the grace of God, I’m still here as well,” Kameron Glasgow said, describing the incident as “the worst feeling in the world.”
The deadly lightning strike occurred amid stormy weather across South Florida. Earlier that day, the National Weather Service’s Miami office warned of scattered showers and thunderstorms before issuing a special weather statement for the area that afternoon.
In a separate incident on Aug. 23, paramedics transported a child to a trauma center after receiving a report that a person had been struck by lightning near Boynton Beach, about 57 miles north of Miami.
Father mourns wife, daughter killed by lightning strike
Margate police said Kenya Glasgow and her daughter were found on a sidewalk after the lightning strike. The department expressed its “deepest condolences to the victims’ family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time” as the investigation continues.
In a Facebook post shared on Aug. 24, Kameron Glasgow mourned the loss of his wife and daughter.
“I just lost my best friend. My daughter just lost her best friend,” he wrote. “I’m hurt, we are hurt, but if you gotten the chance to feel that beautiful light my wife and daughter brought into your life, cherish it. It’s there for a reason.”
Kameron Glasgow later told reporters that the couple’s surviving twin daughter, Kensli Jade Glasgow, is too young to understand the tragedy.
“For her to lose her twin sister, words can’t describe that feeling cause I know she can’t even fathom it right now, that she lost her best friend,” Kameron Glasgow said.
A GoFundMe set up to support the family and help provide for Kensli’s future had raised more than $57,000 by late Aug. 25. The fundraiser states that, in a matter of moments, Kameron Glasgow was “faced with unimaginable grief while also carrying the responsibility of continuing to provide his little girl with the love, care, security, and stability she needs.”
Latest lightning fatalities in US in 2026
At least 12 people, including the mother and toddler, have been killed in a reported lightning strike in the United States so far this year, according to the National Lightning Safety Council.
Other recent lightning fatalities include a Colorado teenager who died while trying to protect his younger brother on a mountain, a man who was struck while hiking on a popular mountain peak in Utah, and a man who was killed after being struck in the water off Fort Myers Beach, Florida, in July.
Last year, 21 people were killed in a strike, and the year before, 14 others died, the National Lightning Safety Council reported.
About 37 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The odds of being struck by lightning each year are less than one in a million, and almost 90% of all lightning strike victims survive.
Here are four ways people are struck by lightning as previously reported by USA TODAY:
- Ground current: Lightning enters the body at the point closest to a strike, travels through the body, and leaves at the contact point farthest away from the initial strike. This causes most deaths and injuries.
- Conduction: The cause of most indoor lightning deaths and injuries. Lightning travels through wires and other metal surfaces.
- Direct strike: The person becomes a part of the main discharge channel, usually when outside in an open area.
- Side flash: Lightning strikes a tall object and part of the current jumps from the object to the victim − for example, when a person is struck while standing under a tree.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY