LINDEN-Another June thunder and lightning storm came rolling through Marengo County Wednesday, but this time besides snapping tree limbs and slowing traffic down to a crawl, a Linden resident was transported to the emergency room due to a freak accident.

According to Linden Police Chief Jeff Laduron, John Weaver, Linden Postmaster was talking on the telephone in the kitchen at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, during a thunderstorm that was averaging nine lightning strokes a minute. While on the phone, a lightning bolt struck the ground just outside the kitchen window.

Weaver was instantly knocked back about six feet to the floor, where he laid until paramedics from the Tombigbee Emergency Medical Services rushed him to the ER at BWWMH in Demopolis, he said. He was complaining of tingling and minor chest pains as a result from the shock.

Officer Huckabee, Chief Laduron and Fire Chief James Creel all responded to the scene to help.

According to www.FEMA.com, In the United States, an average of 300 people are injured and 80 people are killed each year by lightning. Although most lightning victims survive, people struck by lightning often report a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms, including memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, numbness, dizziness, stiffness in joints, irritability, fatigue, weakness, muscle spasms, depression, and an inability to sit for a long period of time.