Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said a lightning strike during Ohio Midwest weather lightning strike conditions injured 16 inmates at Grafton Prison on Tuesday. One inmate was airlifted to hospital after the strike, and seven remained hospitalized by Wednesday morning.
Grafton Prison injuries
DeWine said the prisoners were outside while moving between buildings after an evening meal. Nine of the inmates returned to the correctional institution by Wednesday morning, and no staff were injured. One of the hospitalized inmates was in serious condition.
Ohio storm route
At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, DeWine said the prison's policy is to keep inmates indoors in the event of storms. He said officers did not think weather conditions indicated that a lightning strike was imminent, and the prisoners walked their normal pathway outdoors after they finished eating at a dining hall.
US Midwest weather
The strike came during severe weather across Ohio and Indiana, where the National Weather Service issued flash flooding warnings on Tuesday. The National Weather Service also confirmed three tornadoes in Chicago's south suburbs, while a derecho produced wind damage across a wide area in the region. At least three deaths were reported in the Midwest storm system.
The unanswered question is why officers judged the weather did not point to imminent lightning risk before the inmates were sent outside. The prison's own storm rule and the route used that evening now sit at the center of that review.
