New Jersey man dead after being found on beach during thunderstorm

A man who died over the weekend while returning to a New Jersey beach to warn others of an impending storm may have been struck by lightning.

Patrick Dispoto, 59, of Tom’s River, was found unconscious on J Street Beach in Seaside Park around 7:40 p.m. Sunday, officials said. Emergency responders took him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The man’s girlfriend, identified only as Ruth, told News 12 New Jersey that Dispoto had already left the beach when the weather turned, but returned to warn a group of children about the approaching storm because lifeguards had already left for the night.

Loud thunder was heard and the storm reached the shore. Shortly afterward, Dispoto was found unconscious on the beach and attempts were made to resuscitate him, Jersey Shore Online reports.

Dispoto’s girlfriend believes he was struck by lightning on the sand dune, but authorities said it was impossible to say whether his death was weather-related or caused by another medical problem because no one witnessed the incident.

Seaside Park is in the process of updating its lightning detection systems, but the new sensors are not operational, officials said.

“We don’t want to tell people when the storm is coming. We want to tell them the storm is coming so they can get ahead of it,” Seaside Park lifeguard captain Jim Rankin told News 12 New Jersey.

“The beach is a very dangerous place during a thunderstorm, so if you feel things like the wind shifting, if it’s swinging back and forth between hot and cold, if you see the clouds or hear faint rumbles of thunder, those are signs to leave the beach,” Rankin said.

According to the National Weather Service, there are “approximately 1,800 thunderstorms on Earth” at any given time, with about 100 lightning strikes per second – nearly 8 million per day.

“Since 1959, an average of 86 people have died each year from lightning strikes nationwide,” the NWS says.

According to the agency, the chance of a person being struck by lightning in their lifetime is 1 in 600,000. However, most fatal lightning strikes occur while swimming, hiking or playing golf.