2 women have close encounters with lightning strikes in Delaware

WILMINGTON, Delaware (WPVI) -- Two women had close encounters with lightning strikes in Delaware as severe weather moved through the region on Thursday.

"All of a sudden I felt this zap and saw this like spark of light near my hand," said Leigh Anne Bosshardt, a pre-school teacher at Early Years Program in Wilmington, part of the Red Clay Consolidated School District.

Bosshardt said she felt a sensation in her hand while holding an umbrella during a nearby lightning strike.

"The fear and kind of just chaos that ensued afterward was the worst part of it. It was just stressful and I was shaky," said Bosshardt.

In New Castle County, another woman was standing by a forklift when it was struck by lightning.

Both women were taken to local hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.

However, there's still a lot to process.

"It was just this moment of what just happened? What was that flash of light," said Bosshardt.

Meteorologist Cecily Tynan says it's important to get indoors immediately upon hearing thunder.

"When you're outside and you hear thunder, you don't want to be holding anything that's metal, that includes umbrellas. You want to get inside right away," said Tynan.

She adds if you're out in an open field like a golf course and can't get inside, you want to make yourself as small as possible.

"You want to get into a ball and kind of hunker down, but don't lie flat on the ground," said Tynan. "If you're the tallest thing there, the lightning is going to head to you."

She says it's safe to go back outside 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder.