Rabun County Coroner Sam Beck has identified the man killed in an apparent lightning strike in Rabun County over the weekend as Felipe Flores, 39, of Gainesville. Flores died at the hospital following the incident at a residence in Mountain City Saturday afternoon, July 2.
Rabun County Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Panell says first responders arrived at the scene on Black’s Creek Drive and found a man lying on the ground beside a contracting van unconscious and unresponsive. Bystanders were performing CPR on him.
“Crews reported a hole in the driveway approximately six to eight inches from the man’s feet that appeared to be a possible lightning strike,” says Panell.
Rabun County EMS transported Flores in critical condition to Mountain Lakes Medical Center in Clayton. He died the same day.
The Rabun County Coroner’s Office transported Flores’ body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Atlanta for an autopsy. Coroner Sam Beck says they believe he was killed by a lightning strike “but we are waiting on autopsy results to confirm.”
