Lightning, Winds Kill 5 in Wide Area : Thunderstorms and Tornadoes Rage From West to Southeast

Scattered thunderstorms boomed from the West to the Southeast today after unleashing tornadoes, winds and lightning that killed five people, burned a hole in a jetliner and knocked over a race track tote board.

“We’ve got trees down, fences down--you name it; we’ve got a mess,” Police Sgt. Joe Deich said in Greensboro, N.C., following storms there Sunday.

In Utah, a search resumed today for a 41-year-old man who was swept away during a sudden storm at Utah Lake in which a 10-year-old boy drowned.

Scattered thunderstorms fell today from northeast Florida to North Carolina. Scattered showers and thunderstorms lingered in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Trees Kill Bicyclist

Sunday’s fatalities included an 8-year-old Greensboro boy who was struck by two trees as he rode his bicycle through a storm, police said.

To the southwest, a 38-year-old man was fatally struck by lightning while boating on Lake Norman.

In North Branford, Conn., lightning killed a 17-year-old boy and injured his 19-year-old girlfriend as they walked hand in hand through a hayfield, said police dispatcher Phyllis Dunphy. The girl was in fair condition today with first-degree burns and possible internal injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Near Boulder, Colo., one climber was killed and another injured when they were hit by lightning while trying to descend a 600-foot wall in Eldorado State Park on Saturday afternoon.

Trying to Get Down

“We knew we needed to get on down, and we were doing just that,” Randall Jett, 21, of Salem, Ill., said at Boulder Community Hospital, where he was recovering from burns on several parts of his body.

In Shelby County, Ala., a 19-year-old man was critically injured when he was struck by lightning, apparently while swimming in the Coosa River, said a spokeswoman for University Hospital in Birmingham.

Lightning hit a Piedmont Airlines 737 as it approached Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday night, burning a small hole in the left wing flap and causing minor turbulence, said airline spokesman Mike Clark.

“The passengers were never in any peril,” Clark said. The flap was repaired, and the jet departed for Savannah, Ga., 75 minutes later.

A man was in fair condition today at a Fort Smith, Ark., hospital after he was injured Sunday by debris sent flying when high winds demolished a tote board, used to flash odds on horses to bettors, at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Okla.