All well-informed people know that being under a tree is the worse place to be. However, there are plenty of places to get out of the weather less than a block away. In fact, there is a bank steps away from the park, that you see on the back of the 10 dollar bill. 🙂
From the looks of the storm I saw on the video, that storm had been going on for sometime. At least that is what I deduced from the short clip.
If you went through that storm ( as I did) you might recognize that the sudden onset and extreme severity of the lightning would have made walking a block to shelter seem very dangerous esp to elderly people
It rained then hailed so hard I expected a tornado, but never came
Sometimes you just make the wrong choices
Or it was just your time
There’s an open courtyard in a building on Madison Place, the side road just to the left of Lafayette Square (when facing the White House). In fact, there is — or used to be — there a replica of the fabulous “Grief” statue by Saint Gaudens.
This is a rare event, but one would hope that security on the grounds would advise people not to hide from lightening under a tree henceforth.
Btw, I’ve seen lightning hit the Wash Monument. Very cool.