A woman and her child were struck and killed by lightning in Florida on Aug. 23.

Kenya Glasgow, 31, and her 2-year-old daughter were found on a sidewalk in Margate about 2:30 p.m. Aug. 23, according to the Margate Police Department. Glasgow and her child were transported to two separate South Florida hospitals, where both were pronounced dead.

That makes four people killed by lightning so far in Florida, out of 11 nationwide, according to the National Weather Service. On May 31, 18-year-old Michael Aidan Vargas was struck and killed while kayaking on the Blackwater River in Sanata Rosa County. Lightning also killed Viktar Kiryk, 51, and injured three of his family members on Fort Myers Beach over the July 4 weekend.

"I just lost my best friend. My daughter just lost her best friend," Glasgow's husband Kam posted to Facebook. "After I lost my father a few years ago I learned a very valuable lesson and that's to never question God. My babies didn't suffer.

"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. It gives us all the blueprint to just love others and always remember it doesn't take much to be kind."

Being struck and even killed by lightning is rare, but it's more likely to happen in Florida than anywhere else in the nation, and what you do when you hear thunder can make a big difference. Here's what you should know.

While Oklahoma was named the lightning capital of the United States for most strikes last year, Florida still saw more than 5.2 million flashes in 2025, an average of 72.93 flashes per square mile. The state's geography, nearly year-round warm temperatures, and abundance of water all encourage thunderstorms, and they bring lightning.

Florida also has, by far, the most lightning deaths.

Since 1954, 536 people have been killed by lightning in Florida, as of Aug. 24, according to NWS data. The next closest state is Texas, with 239.

While people struck by lightning may get burned, that's not what kills them. It's a jolt to the brain and nervous system.

Lightning strikes generally cause cardiac arrest. But the hundreds of Americans struck each year who survive may experience soreness, nausea, persistent headaches, problems retaining new information, difficulty carrying on a conversation, slower reaction times, irritability, personality changes, difficulty sleeping, and chronic pain from nerve injuries, among other symptoms.

The odds of being struck are low, roughly 1 in 1.2 million, according to the National Weather Service. The odds of being struck sometime in your lifetime, assuming you live to be at least 80, are about 1 in 15,300.

Those odds go up slightly if you live in lightning-prone states, such as Florida, or spend a lot of time outdoors, but the real odds depend on what you do when thunderstorms are in the area, according to the Lightning Safety Council. People who ignore the threat and fail to get to a safe place are more at risk.

That said, many lightning victims are not struck during the most intense times of a thunderstorm, but well before or after rain hits. Lightning can strike as far as 25 miles away from the thunderstorm that caused it, coming down of an apparently clear sky.

The time to avoid lightning is when you hear thunder, not when you see dark clouds or rain.

"It is important to understand that there is no safe place outside when thunderstorms are in the area," the Lightning Safety Council website warns. "If you hear thunder, you are likely within striking distance of the storm."

The best way for you to protect yourself from lightning is to avoid it. Monitor weather conditions and get to a safe place before the threat arrives.

The National Weather Service offers these tips to stay safe.

GET TO SAFETY: Look for substantial buildings with electricity or plumbing, or an enclosed, hard-topped vehicle with the windows up. Avoid rain shelters, small sheds, and open vehicles.

STAY THERE: Stay in the safe shelter for at least 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder.

Stay off corded phones, computers, and other electrical equipment that put you in direct contact with electricity

Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths and faucets

Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches

Do not lie on concrete floors or lean against concrete walls

Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks

Never shelter under an isolated tree

Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter

Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water

Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)

C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida's best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lightning kills 2 in Florida. What to do when you hear thunder