Several 911 calls detail the frantic moments after a mother and her 2-year-old daughter were struck by lightning outside a Florida home.
The Glasgow family arrived at a relative’s home about 2:30 p.m., Aug. 23 when Kenya Glasgow, 31, and her daughter, Kennedi Rose, were hit by a lightning bolt. Glasgow’s husband was steps away at the time and Kennedi’s twin sister was still in the family’s vehicle.
Mom and daughter were taken to separate hospitals where they were pronounced dead.
“Try to get her back please,” a man can be heard pleading in the background of one of the 911 calls released by the Margate Police Department.
Family members screamed and cried as callers relayed information to authorities. One caller explained what she saw from inside
her house, saying the lightning was too intense to go outside. Then she prayed, “Lod Jesus. Please God.”
Who were Florida mom, twin daughter, killed by lightning?
Kenya Glasgow graduated Florida International University in 2022, the same year she got married, according to Facebook.
“I just lost my best friend. My daughter just lost her best friend,” her husband, Kameron Glasgow wrote on Facebook. “I’m hurt we are hurt but if you gotten the chance to feel that beautiful light my wife and daughter brought into your life cherish it. It’s there for a reason.”
He said his surviving twin daughter is too young to grasp the severity of the events.
“For her to lose her twin sister, words can’t describe that feeling cause I know she can’t even fathom it right now, that she lost her best friend,” Glasgow said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to assist the family. More than $100,0000 had been raised by Sept. 1.
Three deadly lightning strikes in Florida in one week
Less than one week after Glasgow and her daughter were killed, a married,father of four was killed by lightning while jet skiing near St. Petersburg.
Steve Matheson was struck while on the jet ski in waters south off St. Petersburg about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 29, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Florida top spot for lightning fatalities
Florida leads the nation in lightning deaths with 100 reported from 2006 through 2025, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. Texas had the second highest number of fatalities at 44, followed by Colorado’s 27.
In Florida last year, four people suffered lightning-related fatalities between June 14 and Sept 22. They died at the beach, while fishing, and on a hunting trip.
The year before, six people died in Florida after lightning strikes. All but one happened between June and mid-September as people sat under a tree in a park, swam at the beach and rode bikes through a neighborhood.
Nationwide, the top three activities that lead to lightning-related deaths from 2006 through 2025 are fishing, being at the beach and boating. Of the top 12, golf is ranked 11, just ahead of doing yard work.
While lightning is not attracted to any specific material — a persistent myth is that it seeks out metal — it is more likely to strike taller objects, making someone in a field, on a boat or beach, repairing a roof or on an open highway more exposed.
Michelle Spitzer is a journalist for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. As the network’s Rapid Response reporter, she covers Florida’s breaking news. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Frantic 911 calls after mother, daughter fatally struck by lightning
