Man dead after being struck by lightning while jet skiing near Fort De Soto: PCSO

TIERRA VERDE, Fla. - A man died after he was struck by lightning while jet skiing near Fort De Soto on Saturday evening, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Pinellas jet ski lightning strike

What we know:

Deputies responded to the area shortly after 6:30 p.m. after receiving a report that a man riding a jet ski had been struck by lightning, PCSO said.

The sheriff's office identified the man as Steve Matheson. 

Deputies said he was taken to a hospital in the area for treatment, but was pronounced dead.

Florida thunderstorm safety advice

What they're saying:

Florida is frequently in the top 10 in the United States when it comes to lightning fatalities.

"I'd say just don't take risks. Your life is important," Kayden Enders, a fisherman, said. "I think your life is more important than fishing."

Try to take some safety precautions when it comes to thunderstorms.

"You see the lightning coming. It's not worth doing the extra 30 minutes for this type of safety," Brady Harrington, a jet skier, said. "Especially, we've got kids around. You want to set a good example."

Get inside, get out of the water and do it quickly if you see the weather changing.

"Lightning typically travels to the tallest object in an area. If you're in a boat over a body of water you think is very flat, you're likely one of the tallest objects there," FOX 13 Meteorologist Nash Rhodes said.

Water electrical danger

Why you should care:

It is also important to remember that electricity from lightning can travel through the water, so being in a pool or the ocean is one of the worst places you can be if lightning strikes.

"Lightning and electrical current can also travel through water and metal, two places you don't want to be touching or in during a lightning strike," Rhodes said. "That's why we also say if you're out swimming, maybe in the sea or in the pool, [you] definitely want to get inside if you hear thunder."

You should know, if you can hear the thunder, it's time to go inside or to a safe area because that means you are close enough to be struck by lightning.

"We constantly see lightning strikes that happen miles away from the parent thunderstorm, and those can be just as if not more dangerous than the strikes that happen immediately beneath the storm," Rhodes said.

Go in with a plan and trust your gut when it comes to storm season in Florida.

"In the month of August, the rain patterns, the lightning patterns every day," Harrington said. "So, we were planning for this ahead of time. So, I think like having a good, like, a good plan going into this, that's like, that's the best thing to go about it."

Incident details

What we don't know:

Authorities have not released additional information about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Pinellas County