CHICAGO (WGN) — A teen girl is in critical condition after she was struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon in Garfield Park.
As storms moved in this afternoon, a 13-year-old girl was inside Garfield Park, near the conservatory in the 300 block of North Central Park, when she was struck by lightning. Paramedics rushed the girl to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.
“We heard a big boom hit and that’s when it struck the girl in the back,” said witness Daniel Jackson. “I feel devastated for the parents because the little girl stopped breathing.”
Storms are currently southeast of the city with a Severe Thunderstorm Warning in effect for Newton County, Indiana. Earlier, a system moved through causing several severe warnings in the area.
The threat of severe weather is largely over for the area.
In Chicago, several trees were reported down on the Northwest Side and in the suburbs.
